ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Hydrogenation of xylose to xylitol: interactive parametric, optimization and kinetic study

Khushbu Bhavsar, S. K. Sundar, and Jigisha Parikh

Department of Chemical Engineering, Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat, India

E-mail: jkp@ched.svnit.ac.in

Received: 4 November 2024  Accepted: 4 April 2025

Abstract:

Hemicellulose is composed of xylan polymer which on hydrolysis gives xylose. Xylitol is synthesized from xylose through hydrogenation reaction. Several catalysts have been synthesized and studied to selectively yield xylitol. However, there exists a gap in the interactive parametric and optimization as well as kinetic studies for catalysts which synthesize xylitol with high yield. To narrow this gap, this work focuses on the interactive parametric and optimization study using the response surface methodology (RSM) over a mixed oxide supported ruthenium catalyst. Box–Behnken design (BBD) was employed to obtain the optimized conditions for three factors studied at three levels and two responses. The BBD developed model was corroborated by the experimental data generated. The study of power-law kinetics using Arrhenius equation confirmed that hydrogenation reaction of xylose to xylitol followed pseudo-first-order kinetics. The activation energy required for successful conversion of xylose to xylitol over Ru/NiO-TiO₂ catalyst was 14.04 kJ/mol.

Keywords: Catalyst Synthesis; Carbohydrate Chemistry; Catalytic Materials; Nanoparticle Synthesis; Polymer Synthesis; Xylitol; Xylose; Hydrogenation; Xylitol; Optimization; Kinetics

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-025-04053-0

Chemical Papers 79 (7) 4229–4246 (2025)