Conversion of cacao pod husks by pyrolysis and catalytic reaction to produce useful chemicals

Recently, much attention has been devoted the generation of useful chemicals from biomass. Cacao pod husks, a waste biomass, are one of the agricultural crop residues that can be utilized for this purpose. The husks were treated by pyrolysis to produce pyrolysis oil that contained several chemical compounds such as ketones, carboxylic acids, aldehydes, furans, heterocyclic aromatics, alkyl benzenes, phenols and benzenediols. Therefore, this biomass-derived pyrolysis oil is potentially a rich source of useful chemicals. The pyrolysis oil was upgraded over iron oxide catalysts. During the catalytic upgrade, ketonization, selective oxidation and demethoxylation reactions occurred and selectively produced aliphatic ketones (acetone, 2-butanone), phenol and alkyl phenols (cresol, xylenol, ethylphenol). [Display omitted] •Cacao pod husks for useful chemical production.•Catalytic upgrade of pyrolysis oil over ZrO2–FeOx catalyst.•Production of ketones and phenols from renewable and abundant biomass.