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Owing to the abundance of availability, low cost, and environmental-friendliness, biomass waste could serve as a prospective renewable source for value-added chemicals. Nevertheless, biomass conversion into chemicals is quite challenging due to the heterogeneous nature of biomass waste. Biomass-derived chemicals are appealing sustainable solutions that can reduce the dependency on existing petroleum-based production. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)-based catalysts and their composite materials have attracted considerable amounts of interest in biomass conversion applications recently because of their interesting physical and chemical characteristics. Due to their tunability, the catalytic activity and selectivity of MOF-based catalyst/composite materials can be tailored by functionalizing them with a variety of functional groups to enhance biomass conversion efficiency. This review focuses on the catalytic transformation of lignocellulosic biomass into value-added chemicals by employing MOF-based catalyst/composite materials. The main focus is given to the production of the platform chemicals HMF and Furfural from the corresponding (hemi)cellulosic biomass, due to their versatility as intermediates for the production of various biobased chemicals and fuels. The effects of different experimental parameters on the conversion of biomass by MOF-based catalysts are also included. Finally, current challenges and perspectives of biomass conversion into chemicals by MOF-based catalysts are highlighted.

Choline chloride (ChCl) / glycolic acid (GA) deep eutectic solvent (DES) media with high water content but without any additional catalyst are introduced in furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) production. The effects of water content, reaction time, and reaction temperature are investigated with two feedstocks: a glucose/xylose mixture and birch sawdust. Based on the results, 10 equivalent quantities of water (32.9 wt.%) were revealed to be beneficial for conversions without rupturing the DES structure. The optimal reaction conditions were 160 °C and 10 minutes for the sugar mixture and 170 °C and 10 minutes for birch sawdust in a microwave reactor. High furfural yields were achieved, namely 62 % from the sugar mixture and 37.5 % from birch sawdust. HMF yields were low, but since the characterization of the solid residue of sawdust, after DES treatment, was revealed to contain only cellulose (49 %) and lignin (52 %), the treatment could be potentially utilized in a biorefinery concept where the main products are obtained from the cellulose fraction. Extraction of products into the organic phase (methyl isobutyl ketone, MIBK) during the reaction enabled the recycling of the DES phase, and yields remained high for three runs of recycling.