Selectively Production of Levoglucosenone from Cellulose via Catalytic Fast Pyrolysis

Levoglucosenone (LGO) has a wide range of utilization in the field of organic synthesis. Magnetic solid acid (Fe3O4/C-SO3H600) was used in fast pyrolysis of cellulose to produce LGO. It was demonstrated that the catalyst could promote the pyrolysis of cellulose to produce LGO, but the yield was affected by the pyrolysis temperature and the relative amount of catalyst. The yield of LGO reached 20.0 wt% from catalytic fast pyrolysis of cellulose at 300°C, which was significantly higher than that from cellulose (0.3 wt%). Furthermore, the kinetic analysis and recycling results showed that the catalyst could not only reduce the required temperature of cellulose in fast pyrolysis, but also still efficiently promote the production of LGO after recovery and activation.