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Furfural is a naturally occurring product as well as being a synthetic one

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Sharvari Gaikwad
Furfural is a naturally occurring product as well as being a synthetic one

Furfural (C4H3O-CHO), also known as 2-furaldehyde, is the most well-known member of the furan family and the source of the other furans. It is a colourless liquid with a boiling point of 161.7 °C and a specific gravity of 1.1598, which darkens when exposed to air. It dissolves 8.3 percent in water at 20 °C and is completely miscible with alcohol and ether.


Furfural is a promising renewable platform compound derived from lignocellulosic biomass that has the potential to be converted into biofuels and biochemicals. Furfural's highly functionalized molecular structure makes it a desirable raw material for the long-term production of value-added chemicals containing oxygen atoms. The various catalytic processes used to convert furfural to C4 and C5 chemicals are discussed. The majority of C5 chemicals are synthesised via sequential steps of selective hydrogenation and/or hydrogenolysis, whereas the majority of C4 chemicals are synthesised via selective oxidation as the first step.


It can be found in a variety of foods, including coffee (55–255 mg/kg) and whole grain bread (26 mg/kg). Furfural is an important non-petroleum-based renewable chemical feedstock. It can be catalytically reduced into a variety of solvents, polymers, fuels, and other useful chemicals. Furfuryl alcohol (FA) is produced by hydrogenating furfural and is used to make Furan resins, which are used in thermoset polymer matrix composites, cements, adhesives, casting resins, and coatings.


Furfuryl alcohol is further hydrogenated to form tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol (THFA), which is used as a solvent in agricultural formulations and as an adjuvant to aid herbicide penetration of the leaf structure. Palladium-catalyzed decarbonylation of furfural produces industrially furan in another application as a feedstock.


Read more @ https://medium.com/@sharvaricmi/furfural-is-a-promising-renewable-platform-compound-2661a5dc248c


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Sharvari Gaikwad
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