One-pot chemo-enzymatic synthesis of furfuralcohol from xylose

[Display omitted] •One-pot synthesis of furfuralcohol was conducted by chemo-enzymatic catalysis.•Conversion of xylose to furfural with SO42−/SnO2-MMT was optimized.•Bioreduction of furfural to furfuralcohol with E. coli CCZU-K14 was optimized.•Furfural liquor showed biocompatibility towards E. coli CCZU-K14 whole cells.•Biosynthesis of furfuralcohol from 200mM furfural was obtained at 100% yield. Furfuralcohol (FOL) is an important intermediate for the production of lysine, ascorbic acid, and lubricants. It can be used as a hypergolic fuel in rocketry. In this study, it was attempted to synthesize FOL from xylose by tandem catalysis with solid acid SO42−/SnO2-Montmorillonite and recombination Escherichia coli CCZU-K14 whole cells. Using SO42−/SnO2-Montmorillonite (3.0wt% dosage) as catalyst, a highest furfural yield of 41.9% was achieved from xylose at 170°C for 20min. Furthermore, Escherichia coli CCZU-K14 whole cells were used for bioconverting furfural to FOL. The optimum biocatalytic reaction temperature, reaction pH, cosubstrate concentration, and substrate concentration were 30°C, 6.5, 1.5mol glucose/mol furfural, and 200mM, respectively. Finally, the yield of FOL from 200mM furfural was achieved to 100% by Escherichia coli CCZU-K14 whole cells after 24h. In conclusion, this strategy show high potential application for the effective synthesis of FOL.