Adipic acid synthesis from bio-derived 2-furoic acid by reduction-carbonylation

Adipic acid (ADA) serves as a crucial monomer for the manufacturing of nylon and polyurethanes. However, current production methods are based on petrochemical feedstocks and pose significant environmental concerns. Consequently, the development of an innovative catalytic system for producing ADA from renewable biomass-derived feedstocks is of significant importance. Herein, we report a novel one-pot, two-step process for the highly efficient synthesis of ADA from the biomass derivative 2-furoic acid via hydrogenative carbonylation. In the first step, 2-furoic acid is selectively reduced to 2-tetrahydrofuroic acid using a Rh catalyst with acetic acid (AcOH) and water (H 2 O) as solvents. Subsequently, within the same catalytic system, the addition of I 2 as a promoter enables the further conversion of 2-tetrahydrofuroic acid to ADA through a highly selective carbonylation reaction under CO and H 2 atmospheres. This one-pot, two-step process achieved an ADA yield of 91.4 % from 2-furoic acid. Mechanistic studies revealed that 5-iodopentanoic acid is the key intermediate in the carbonylation process. In summary, this research introduces an innovative and environmentally friendly approach for synthesizing ADA from biomass-derived 2-furoic acid, offering great potential for industrial application. • Adipic acid can be obtained from 2-tetrahydrofuroic acid by carbonylation with high selectivity. • 5-Iodopentanoic acid was the key intermediate during the carbonylation reaction. • A process was developed to synthesis adipic acid from 2-furoic acid in one-pot two-step strategy.