Abstract

This study aims to recycle the lignocellulosic biomass (LB) of Egyptian cotton stalks as organic plant waste to produce a primer for value-added economic products. The cellulose content of Giza 86 and Giza 90 (32.37 % and 30.79 %), respectively, results in the conversion of promising raw materials into many economic products. The extracted cellulose was investigated by X-ray diffraction which confirms the efficient extraction process when compared to the X-ray spectrum to the standard sample. It was then depolymerized to glucose using molten ZnCl2 in the presence of hydrochloric acid. Glucose was dehydrated to 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) by a one-pot reaction using dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) as a solvent and ferric chloride hexahydrate as a catalyst. The as-formed 5-HMF was then analysed by (FT-IR, HPLC, and 1H & 13C-NMR). The spectra of the prepared 5-HMF sample were compared with that of the spectra of the standard 5-HMF sample, and this comparison showed a quite parallelism between the prepared and the standard samples, confirming that 5-hydroxymethylfurfural was successfully produced.