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As global demand and prices for petroleum-based feedstocks continue to rise, chemists are being challenged to devise processes that utilize biomass-derived feedstocks. In one of the latest developments, Claus H. Christensen and coworkers at the Technical University of Denmark, in Lyngby, have come up with a procedure for the selective oxidation of furfural and hydroxymethylfurfural to form their respective methyl esters (ChemSusChem, DOI: 10.1002/cssc200700033). The researchers used sodium methoxide in methanol solvent, an oxygen atmosphere, and gold deposited on titania nanoparticles to efficiently convert the hydroxyl and/or aldehyde groups of the furfurals. Methyl furoate formed from furfural is useful in flavor and fragrance applications and potentially as an industrial solvent, whereas furan-2,5-dimethylcarboxylate derived from hydroxymethylfurfural (reaction shown) is a monomer that can replace terephthalic acid in plastics, the scientists note.
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