Nature 447, 982–986 (2007)

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Fructose — a carbohydrate commonly found in packaged foods — could supplant ethanol as a fuel additive thanks to a new chemical process that transforms it into 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF). DMF is superior to ethanol in several important ways: it releases 40% more energy on combustion, it blends more easily with petroleum and, unlike ethanol, it does not absorb water from the atmosphere. But, it has been difficult to produce economically, until now.

James Dumesic and engineering colleagues at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA, have developed an efficient two-step process that removes oxygen atoms from fructose, converting it to DMF via an intermediary compound, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural. Their novel approach makes use of chemical catalysts.

The combustion of fuels such as ethanol and DMF, which are made from plants, adds no net carbon dioxide to the atmosphere and therefore does not contribute to global warming, as fossil fuels do. Dumesic and colleagues say that a similar catalytic process might produce DMF from glucose found in woody stems and plants that are not usually consumed, which could be even more efficient than starting with fructose. Before DMF can be considered as a fuel additive, its toxicity must be determined as currently this is not understood with precision.