1. Biomass Treatment and Transformation Using Ionic Liquids Sanan Eminov, Imperial College London, London, UK, 2013 2 nd year PhD student

2. Energy demand  It is estimated that the current consumption of petroleum is at a rate 100.000 times faster than nature can replace it. Alternatives: Wind Solar Nuclear Hydro Biomass

3. Biomass is the only non-fossil option for organic chemical production. http://cr.middlebury.edu/es/altenergylife/sbiomass.htm

4. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v454/n7206/fig_tab/nature07190_F2.html

5. A pathway from biomass to platform chemicals Raines, R. T.; Binder, J. B. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2009, 131, 1979-1985

6. Ionic Liquids + Metal Catalysts  Ionic liquids are low melting organic salts (<100 0 C) that potentially comprise wide application due to their fascinating properties and have emerged as promising “green” replacement for volatile organic solvents.  Like the conventional salts, ionic liquids are mainly composed of ions which are positively and negatively charge.  The most attractive properties of ILs are their chemical and thermal stability, non-flammability, and negligible vapour pressure.

7. Typical cations and anions used in ionic liquids

8. HMF yields in different ionic liquids Hu, S.; Zhang, Z.; Song, J.; Zhou, Y.; Han, B.; Dalton Trans 2010, 39, 4080- 4089

9. Sulphate-based ionic liquids FructoseHMF Levulinic Acid Formic Acid x

10. Ionic Liquid Catalyst Temp. ( o C) HMF Yields (%) 3 hours HMF yields (%) 24 hours [bmim]HSO 4 CrCl 3 ∙ 6H 2 O + (15%) water 806585 [bmim]HSO 4 CrCl 3 ∙ 6H 2 O80758383 [bmim]HSO 4 CrCl 2 807076 [bmim]HSO 4 CrCl 3 803265 [bmim]HSO 4 Sc(OTf) 3 804349 [bmim]HSO 4 La(OTf) 3 8049 [bmim]HSO 4 Y(OTf) 3 804960 [bmim]HSO 4 WCl 4 806065 [bmim]HSO 4 NiCl 2 804154 [bmim]HSO 4 ZnCl 2 803238

11. Ionic Liquid Catalyst Temp. ( o C) HMF Yields (%) 3 hours HMF Yields (%) 24 hours [bmim]HSO 4 No catalyst + (15%) water 80 1144 [bmim]HSO 4 No catalyst 80 2741 [bmim]HSO 4 CrCl 3 ∙ 6H 2 O + (15%) water 80 6585 FructoseHMF

12. Ionic Liquid Catalyst Temp. ( o C) HMF Yields (%) 1 hours HMF Yields (%) 3 hours [bmim]HSO 4 CrCl 3 ∙ 6H 2 O1008796 [bmim]HSO 4 No catalyst 10069 [bmim]HSO 4 CrCl 3 ∙ 6H 2 O1208789 [bmim]HSO 4 No catalyst 1207178 High Temperatures

13. Conclusion Synthesis of RTILs (room temperature ionic liquids). High HMF yields without any side products. Around 45 % HMF yield without the use of catalyst. One of the highest (96%) HMF yields in the literature. High reaction rate.

14. Thank You!