Chemicals from biomass: upgraded production, spectroscopic detection and synthetic application of a product from cellulose pyrolysis

Among the anhydrosugars produced by cellulose and biomass pyrolysis, (1R,5S)-1-hydroxy-3,6-dioxabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-2-one (LAC) has attracted the attention due to its potential use as a chiral building block in organic synthesis [1]. Recently LAC production by cellulose pyrolysis has been upgraded in catalytic conditions, quantifying it in bio-oils by FT-IR and 1HNMR analysis (Figure 1). The best results are given at 500 °C by mesoporous Sn-MCM-41 catalyst (7.6 % from cellulose, 6.6 % after a regeneration cycle) and by the cheap and eco-friendly montmorillonite K10 (4.8 %) [2]. Pure LAC has been employed in the synthesis of chiral new compounds related to muscarine, tested in the interaction with specific receptors and of a series of nucleosides with potential anti HIV activity.