Selective terminal C-C scission of C5-carbohydrates

The selective catalytic production of C4-tetritols (erythritol and threitol) from C5-sugars is an attractive route for the conversion of non-digestible sugars to C4-building blocks from agro residues. Here we show that an unprecedented high selectivity of 20-25% C4-tertritols can be achieved under mild conditions (138 degrees C, 6 bar H-2, and 24 h) in the aqueous conversion of xylose over a 5 wt% Ru/C catalyst. A mechanistic study revealed that the dominant reaction mechanism for C5-sugar conversion involves a formal decarbonylation step leading to the initial formation of the desired C4-tetritols. Subsequently the formed C4-tetritols undergo further terminal C-C scissions to glycerol and ethylene glycol. Remarkably, potentially competing reactions like internal C-C chain scission (fragmentation) or hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) do not occur to any significant extent under the applied conditions.