Sustainable production of organic acids via ozonation of biomass derived 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and furfural

Abstract Extracting value-added chemicals from renewable resources has attracted much attention in facing the crises arising from fossil resources. This study elucidates a promising strategy of producing valuable organic acids, including maleic acid, formic acid and succinic acid, via a new ozonation process. 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and furfural, two platform chemicals obtained from biomass hydrolysis, are used as the raw materials. Under alkaline reaction condition (25 °C, 10 mg/L O3, and 90 min), improved yields of maleic acid, succinic acid and formic acid reached 25.3 wt%, 10.0 wt% and 41.1 wt% from HMF, as well as 17.6 wt%, 2.5 wt% and 79.5 wt% from furfural; respectively. This sustainable manufacturing technology exhibited significant advantages, including one simple process, room condition, avoiding of organic solvent and absence of metal catalysts. This work paves the ways from biomass to commercial organic acids via hydrolysis followed by ozonation.