Michigan State University

Lars Peereboom

Dennis J Miller

Carl T Lira

Aspi Kolah

Evan Wegener

Matthew Gattinger

Leo E Manzer

James F White

Navinchandra S Asthana

Yasuo Yoshikuni

Adam Joseph Wargacki

Susan R Cooper

Scott F Parker

Thomas D Dionise

Lou Kapicak

William G Killian

The disclosure relates to methods for separating mixtures of polyols, in particular mixtures of two of more different vicinal diols having close boiling points, thus making them difficult or impossible to separate using conventional distillation techniques. The polyol mixture is reacted with an aldehyde or ketone acetalization agent to form one or more acetals as corresponding acetalization reaction products. The acetalization reaction products are more easily separable either from each other (such as via distillation) or from an unreacted vicinal diol (such as via extraction, settling, or other phase separation). After separation, hydrolysis is performed on the acetalization reaction products to recover the vicinal diols as separate, purified components. The methods provide cost-effective processes for separating different polyols originally formed in admixture.

Methods for vicinal diol separation

The disclosure relates to a method for forming 2,5-furan dicarboxylic acid (FDCA) from aldaric acids. The aldaric acids are dehydrating and cyclizing via acid catalysis to form the FDCA product. Aldaric acids such as galactaric acid, gularic acid, mannaric acid, and glucaric acid can be used in the disclosed method, and the aldaric acids can be obtained from form renewable biomass sources which contain pectin, alginate, and/or other biomass carbohydrates. The FDCA can be used as a renewable feedstock for consumer product polymeric materials such as polyalkylene furoate polymers.

Formation of 2,5-furan dicarboxylic acid from aldaric acids

Provided are methods of producing 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) from renewable sources such as seaweed, alginate, oligoalginate, pectin, oligopectin, polygalacturonate, galacturonate, and/or oligogalacturonate. The sugars in the renewable sources can be converted into one or more intermediates such as 4-deoxy-L-erythro-5-hexoseulose uronate (DEHU), 4-deoxy-L-threo-5-hexosulose uronate (DTHU), 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF), 2,5-dihydroxymethyl furan (DHMF), and 5-formyl-2-furancarboxylic acid (FFA), which can be converted into FDCA by dehydration and cyclization to produce 5-formyl-2-furancarboxylic acid (FFA), followed by oxidation to produce FDCA. DEHU or DTHU may also be converted into FDCA by oxidation to produce 2,3-dihydroxy-5-oxohexanedioic acid (DOHA), which then undergoes dehydration and cyclization to produce FDCA.

Methods for preparing 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid

The disclosure relates to a process for forming an acyloxy carboxylic acid or a derivative of the acid. A hydroxy acid compound is reacted with a carboxylic acid in a reaction vessel and in the presence of a catalyst, such as in a reactive distillation column containing the catalyst. The reaction product formed in the reaction vessel includes an acyloxy carboxylic acid compound, which can be removed continuously from the vessel in a product stream. Another product stream containing unreacted (excess) carboxylic acid and/or reaction byproducts such as water can be separately removed continuously from the reaction vessel.

Method for producing acyloxy carboxylic acids and derivatives thereof

A process for the preparation of a fuel oil (diesel fuel or heating oil) composition which is a mixture of an alkanol tranesterified fatty acid ester triglyceride and an acetal of glycerol is described. The process preferably provides a prestep of the formation of at least some of the alkanol transesterified triglyceride containing the glycerol for use in the formation of the acetal of glycerol. The composition can also be formed from a reaction of 1,1-dimethoxy- or 1,1-diethoxyethane and glycerol to form the acetal in the alkanol transesterified triglyceride.

Process for production of a composition useful as a fuel

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Haslett, MI, United States of America

Lars Peereboom