The Effect of Solvent Polarity on Autocatalytic Furfural Production Confirmed by Multivariate Statistical Analysis

Autocatalytic dehydration of xylose to furfural was studied in pure aqueous and monophasic organic/water mixtures to determine the effect reaction media and conditions have on conversion and yield. This study identified that the severity ( R o ) of the reaction and polarity, as determined by the Hansen Solubility Parameter, δ P , strongly correlate with xylose conversion and furfural yield. Increasing the R o and δ P increased both conversion and yield in pure aqueous and organic/water mixtures of sulfolane, γ‐butyrolactone, γ‐valerolactone, γ‐hexalactone, and tetrahydrofuran. Additionally, it was found that at a specified R o and δ P , similar conversions and yields were achieved using different combinations of time, temperature, and solvent mixture. Using principal component analysis and projection to latent structures, a semi‐empirical model was developed that provided estimates of xylose conversion and furfural yield over a range of experimental R o and δ P values.