A method for co-producing monophenols and cellulose by catalytic oxidation of biomass over a transition metal oxide

A method for co-production of monophenols and cellulose by transition metal oxide catalytic oxidation of biomass, comprising:

• (a) loading a reactor with pretreated dry biomass, transition metal oxide and alkali metal hydroxide solution and then the reactor is sealed, evacuated and refilled with O2, the O2 pressure being kept at 0.1˜3 MPa, and the mixture is allowed to react at 80˜200° C. for 1˜180 min under stirring, and then cooled down at room temperature to obtain a suspension;
• (b) the suspension obtained in step (a) is centrifuged to separate clear supernatant from solid residue, the supernatant being acidified to pH 2˜3, an organic solvent being added to the acidified solution to extract phenolic compounds and the organic phase being gathered;
• the residual acid and water in the organic solution are removed and monophenols are obtained by vacuum distillation of the organic phase;
• and
• (c) the solid residue obtained in step (b) is placed in a sieve, and the catalyst is rinsed out with water while the biomass residue is retained on the sieve, the aqueous solution containing catalyst is filtered or centrifuged to recycle the spent catalyst, the biomass residue is washed with acid aqueous solution to remove the residual catalyst until the solution is clear, and continuedly washed with water until the pH value of waste liquid reaches 7 and then the biomass residue is dried.