The project ran between September 2017 and June 2021.
The sub-project Manufacturing of Caprolactone from the sugar platform was part of the innovation project BioEconomy 2.0.
The utilization of renewable resources and development of effective processes for their conversion are critical future developments. 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), produced from dehydration of cellulose and hexoses, is a renewable platform candidate for achieving significant production of high value-added intermediates such as 2,5-bis(hydroxymethyl)furan (BHMF), tetrahydrofuran-2,5-dimethanol (THFDM), 1,2,6 hexantriol (HTO), 1,6-hexanediol (HDO), and caprolactone. However, different by-products can be obtained due to over hydrogenation which is considered as the key challenge to control the selectivity of each reaction and process. The goal of this project was to develop multiple catalysts to manufacture different specialty chemicals from HMF as a renewable feedstock. This has been achieved by exploring the potential of various catalytic materials, determining their most favorable properties and finally the most beneficial reaction conditions for each finished product.
Participants
Chalmers, Perstorp AB and Sekab.
Budget
The project’s budget was 2 530 000 SEK.