LAUSR

Abstract This paper presents a novel method for the production of a biomass-derived chemical platform, levoglucosan (LGA), from sugarcane bagasse via pretreatment with an organocatalyst (CX4SO3H) and fast pyrolysis. The effectiveness of this platform for producing LGA from sugarcane bagasse was screened using a microscale pyrolysis reactor coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS). The effects of CX4SO3H loading, temperature and pretreatment time were studied, and the best pretreatment conditions were 3 wt/wt%, 1 h and 23 °C. The yields of LGA from sugarcane bagasse in the presence and absence of CX4SO3H were 32.3 and 4.6%, respectively, compared to raw biomass. The presence of CX4SO3H for the treatment of biomass may make this process an interesting and very useful alternative for the production of a biomass-derived chemical platform, especially for levoglucosan production, as renewable feedstock for biofuels production and other bioproducts.