Niobium and Zirconium Phosphates as Green and Water-Tolerant Catalysts for the Acid-Catalyzed Valorization of Bio-Based Chemicals and Real Lignocellulosic Biomasses

Commercial niobium and synthesized zirconium phosphates were tested as water-tolerant heterogeneous acid catalysts in the hydrothermal conversion of different bio-based substrates. Different acid-catalyzed reactions performed using biomass-derived model compounds more complex real lignocellulosic biomasses substrate. The glucose cellulose was preliminarily investigated. Then, a wide plethora raw biomasses, such conifer wood sawdust, Jerusalem artichoke, sorghum, miscanthus, foxtail millet, hemp Arundo donax, valorized towards production water-soluble saccharides, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), levulinic (LA) furfural. catalytic performances two explained on basis their features, total acidity, Brønsted/Lewis sites ratio strength. Moreover, better insight into structure–acidity relationship proposed. properties enabled us to tune reaction target products, achieving from maximum HMF LA yields 24.4 24.0 mol%, respectively. Remarkably, when artichoke biomass adopted presence phosphate, furanic cellulose-derived sugars 12.7 50.0 respectively, obtained, after only 1 h reaction. hydrolysates, which found be rich C5 C6 carbohydrates, can exploited for cascade added-value bio-products.