Catalytic upgrading of biomass-derived sugars with acidic nanoporous materials: Structural role in carbon-chain length variation.

Shifting from petroleum-based resources to non-edible biomass for the production of valuable chemicals and fuels is one of significant aspects in sustainable chemistry for realizing the sustainable development of our society. Various renowned biobased platform molecules, such as 5-hydroxymethylfurfrual, furfural, levulinic acid and lactic acid, are successfully accessible from the transformation of bio-based sugars. To achieve the specific reaction routes, heterogeneous nanoporous acidic materials have been served as promising catalysts for bio-sugars conversion in the past decade years. This review summarizes the advancement of various nanoporous acidic materials for bio-sugar conversion, where the number of carbon atoms is variable and controllable in the assistance of switchable structure of the nanoporous materials. The major focus of this review paper is to display the possible reaction pathways/mechanisms, and relationships of between the catalyst structure and catalytic performance. Moreover, representative examples on catalytic upgradation of bio-based platform molecules to bio-chemicals and fuels via selective C-C cleavage and coupling strategies over nanoporous acidic materials are also discussed.