Sustainable Sorbitol Dehydration to Isosorbide using Solid Acid Catalysts: Transition from Batch Reactor to Continuous-Flow System

Abstract

Isosorbide is one of the most interesting cellulosic-derived molecules with great potential to be implemented in wide range of products that shaping our daily life. This Review describes the recent developments in the production of isosorbide from sorbitol in batch and continuous-flow systems under hydrothermal conditions using solid acid catalysts. Moreover, the current hurdles and challenges regarding the synthesis of isosorbide from cellulosic biomass in continuous-flow process using solid acid catalysts are summarized, as well as the scaling-up of this process into pilot level, which will lead to an established industrial process with high sustainability metrics.

Keywords: bio-based building blocks; flow chemistry; heterogeneous catalysis; isosorbide; lignocellulosic biomass.