Liquid Alkanes with Targeted Molecular Weights from Biomass‐Derived Carbohydrates

Abstract Liquid transportation fuels must burn cleanly and have high energy densities, criteria that are currently fulfilled by petroleum, a non‐renewable resource, the combustion of which leads to increasing levels of atmospheric CO 2 . An attractive approach for the production of transportation fuels from renewable biomass resources is to convert carbohydrates into alkanes with targeted molecular weights, such as C 8 –C 15 for jet‐fuel applications. Targeted n‐alkanes can be produced directly from fructose by an integrated process involving first the dehydration of this C 6 sugar to form 5‐hydroxymethylfurfural, followed by controlled formation of CC bonds with acetone to form C 9 and C 15 compounds, and completed by hydrogenation and hydrodeoxygenation reactions to form the corresponding n‐alkanes. Analogous reactions are demonstrated starting with 5‐methylfurfural or 2‐furaldehyde, with the latter leading to C 8 and C 13 n‐alkanes.