Potential of lime as a green catalyst in the manufacture of furfural from Mikania micrantha

An attempt to increase the added value of lime has been done. The use of lime extract as a green catalyst in furfural manufacturing is expected to reduce the burden of pollution, and corrosion problems. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of lime extract as an organic acid catalyst in furfural production from Mikania micrantha (MM) through hydrolysis and dehydration and compare it with sulfuric acid catalyst. In this work, 50 g MM and 50 g dry NaCl powder were placed into a three neck flask equipped with a long condenser. The lime extract catalyst was added to the mixture at a ratio of 6:1 (v/w). The reaction temperature was varied from 100-120°C, and the condensed furfural was stored in an erlenmeyer as a function of time (0-330 min). Furfural was separated from water done by adding 50 ml chloroform to form two layers. The lower layer rich in furfural and chloroform was distilled at 70°C to evaporate chloroform. Purified furfural was identified using FTIR and GC-MS. The results obtained confirm that lime extract can be used as a green catalyst in furfural synthesis from MM.