In the pursuit of establishing a sustainable biobased economy, valorization of lignocellulosic biomass is increasing its value as a feedstock. Nevertheless, to achieve the integrated biorefinery paradigm, the selective fractionation of its complex matrix to its single constituents must be complete. This review presents and examines the novel catalytic pathways to form furfuryl alcohol (FuOH) from xylose in a one-pot system. This production concept takes on chemical, thermochemical and biochemical transformations or a combination of them. Still, the bulk of the research is targeted to develop heterogeneous catalytic systems to synthesize FuOH from furfural and xylose. The present review includes an overview of the economic aspects to produce this platform chemical in an industrial manner. In the last section of this review, an outlook and summary of catalytic processes to produce FuOH are highlighted.

Furfural has been highlighted as one of the top ten most rewarding bio-based building blocks by the US Department of Energy. In this study, furfural was produced from xylose and birch hydrolysate liquor employing a batch reactor in a biphasic system. The formation of furfural was conducted under auto-catalyzed conditions. 2-sec-Butylphenol was used as extractant to promptly extract furfural from the aqueous phase in order to minimize furfural degradation reactions. The effect of time, temperature, and organic-to-aqueous phase ratio were investigated. The maximum furfural yields from xylose and birch hydrolysate liquor as feedstock under auto-catalyzed conditions when employing 2-sec-butylphenol (SBP) were 59 mol% and 54 mol%, respectively. In the monophasic system when using hydrolysate, 46% furfural was yielded. Based on a techno-economic analysis carried out for furfural, the total investment cost for a plant integrated with an existing pulp mill or bio-refinery is estimated as 14 M€. The minimum selling price of furfural found to be 1.62 € kg⁻¹. With a furfural selling price of 1.93 € kg⁻¹, the payback period is approximately 5 years and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 20.7% is achieved at the end of the project lifetime.