Mechanistic and kinetic aspects of pentose dehydration towards furfural in aqueous media employing homogeneous catalysis

In this paper both the mechanistic and kinetic aspects of furfural formation from pentoses in aqueous acidic media have been reviewed. Based on the reviewed literature, a comprehensive reaction mechanism has been proposed consisting of more than one route, all starting from acyclic xylose, and involving alternately 1,2-enolization, ?-elimination...