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Volume II presents the latest advances in catalytic hydrodeoxygenation and other transformations of some cellulosic platform chemicals to high value-added products. It presents the theoretical evaluation of the energetics and catalytic species involved in potential pathways of catalyzed carbohydrate conversion, pathways leading to the formation of humin-based by-products, and thermal pathways in deriving chemicals from lignin pyrolysis and hydrodeoxygenation. Catalytic gasification of biomass under extreme thermal conditions as an extension of pyrolysis is also discussed.Marcel Schlaf, PhD, is a Professor at the Department of Chemistry, University of Guelph, Canada.Z. Conrad Zhang, PhD, is a Professor at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.

Volume I mainly focuses on the current understanding of the reaction pathways and mechanisms involved in several important catalytic conversions of cellulose and carbohydrates. It starts with nanoscale illustrations of biomass structures and describes various reactions including cellulose depolymerization to sugars, catalytic aldose-ketose isomerization and dehydration, selective oxidation, hydrogenolysis of cellulose and sugars, and the conversion of short carbohydrates. The specificity and function of different catalysts and reaction media in relation to the catalytic performances for these reactions are discussed with significant mechanistic details.Marcel Schlaf, PhD, is a Professor at the Department of Chemistry, University of Guelph, Canada.Z. Conrad Zhang, PhD, is a Professor at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.