Intramolecular dehydration of biomass-derived sugar alcohols in high-temperature water

The intramolecular dehydration of biomass-derived sugar alcohols d-sorbitol, d-mannitol, galactitol, xylitol, ribitol, l-arabitol, erythritol, l-threitol, and dl-threitol was investigated in high-temperature water at 523-573 K without the addition of any acid catalysts. d-Sorbitol and d-mannitol were dehydrated into isosorbide and isomannide, respectively, as dianhydrohexitol products. Galactitol was dehydrated into anhydrogalactitols; however,...