Synergistic boosting furoic acid and glucose production from corn stover by tandem chemocatalysis and biocatalysis

The synthesis of bio-based compounds derived from biomass is essential for promoting sustainable development and environmental preservation. In this study, a tandem chemocatalysis and biocatalysis approach was proposed to co-produce furoic acid (FA) and glucose from corn stover. The corn stover was pretreated using 2 wt% lactic acid (LA), achieving the highest xylose and xylooligosaccharides (XOS) overall yield of 86.1 %. The hydrolysate was catalyzed in a biphasic system by 0.25 % Hβ zeolite and pre-existing LA to obtain furfural, which was further converted into FA at 70.5 % yield in the same biphasic system using biocatalyst of Pseudomonas rhodesiae. In addition, the possible mechanisms of the associated catalytic reactions were also discussed and the enzymatic saccharification efficiency of the solid remains was enhanced to 87.5 %, increased by 3.3 times than that of the original corn stover. More importantly, the glucose obtained could serve as a substrate for cell cultivation, facilitating the production of both biocatalyst (P. rhodesiae) and chemical catalyst (lactic acid). This facile biorefinery method of co-production of FA and glucose improves the bioavailability of corn stover in a greener and simpler manner, avoiding strong acids and complex chemical catalysts.