Selective preparation of 1-hydroxy-3,6-dioxabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-2-one by fast pyrolysis of cellulose catalyzed with metal-loaded nitrided HZSM-5

[Display omitted] •1-Hydroxy-3,6-dioxabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-2-one (LAC) was produced from cellulose.•Metal-modified nitrided HZSM-5 catalysts were prepared for catalytic pyrolysis.•Mg/N-HZSM-5 was the optimal catalyst for promoting LAC formation.•The maximal LAC yield and selectivity reached 7.48 wt% and 30.33%. 1-Hydroxy-3,6-dioxabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-2-one (LAC) is a valuable chiral compound, which can be prepared from catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP) of cellulose. In this study, nitrided HZSM-5 (N-HZSM-5) and metal-loaded N-HZSM-5 were prepared for CFP of cellulose to selectively produce LAC. Pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) and lab-scale experiments were conducted to explore LAC preparation affected by nitridation and metal modification of HZSM-5, pyrolytic reaction temperature and catalyst-to-cellulose (CA/CL) ratio. The Py-GC/MS experiments obtained the maximal LAC yield of 7.48 wt% with the corresponding selectivity of 30.33% under 5 wt% Mg loaded N-HZSM-5 (5%Mg/N-HZSM-5) with the CA/CL ratio of 6 at 350 °C, compared with those of 1.22 wt% and 2.87% in non-catalytic process. Moreover, lab-scale experiments resulted in the LAC yield and selectivity of 6.69 wt% and 26.18% under the conditions of 5%Mg/N-HZSM-5, CA/CL ratio of 4 and 400 °C. The results demonstrated the promising catalytic performance of Mg/N-HZSM-5 on LAC production from CFP of cellulose.