Polymeric acid catalysts and uses thereof

Abstract

Disclosed are methods for producing a downstream product from cellulosic material by: a) contacting the cellulosic material with a polymer and a solvent to form a reaction mixture, where the polymer includes acidic monomers and ionic monomers connected to form a polymeric backbone, and each of the ionic monomers independently comprises at least one nitrogen-containing cationic group or at least one phosphorous-containing cationic group; b) degrading the cellulosic material in the reaction mixture to produce a liquid phase and a solid phase, where the liquid phrase includes one or more sugars, and where the solid phase includes residual cellulosic material; and c) using the one or more sugars to produce the downstream product.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.