Abstract

The progressive depletion of fossil resources and the severe environmental impacts associated with their utilization have accelerated the development of renewable and sustainable pathways for the production of fuels and chemicals. Lignocellulosic biomass has emerged as an abundant, low-cost, and carbon-neutral feedstock that can be efficiently converted into versatile platform molecules through catalytic processing. This review provides a comprehensive overview of biomass feedstocks, their extraction and upgrading strategies, and the catalytic synthesis of key platform chemicals such as levulinic acid and furfural. Particular emphasis is placed on the subsequent valorization of these intermediates into sustainable fuel additives and value-added chemicals. The role of heterogeneous catalytic systems, especially Ni-based catalysts, in the biomass conversion reactions.

Keywords:Biomass; Fuel-additives; Heterogeneous catalysts; Levulinic acid; Furfural