Efficient solar-driven tandem catalysis for biomass valorization: selective CC bond cleavage to synthesize xylitol

The Liquid-Sunshine presents a transformative approach for converting biomass into high-value platform chemicals (HPCs). However, conventional photorefineries suffer from low efficiency and excessive byproduct formation due to the inherent incompatibility between biomass and photocatalysts. Herein, we introduce an innovative tandem oxygen-reforming-photocatalysis (TORP) strategy, which first selectively reforms biomass functional groups before driving photocatalytic CC bond cleavage to produce HPCs. The oxygen reforming enhances substrate-catalyst interaction and facilitates selective CC bond activation, while the formation of a hydrogen-rich surface and associated hydrogen spillover promotes C_n-1 radical quenching, thereby improving selectivity and suppressing overoxidation. This TORP strategy leads to a seven-fold increase in xylitol yield (1.3 mmol g^-1 h^-1) with 89% feedstock conversion and provides a robust and efficient approach for biomass valorization, demonstrating broad applicability across organic waste and plastic substrates, offering substantial potential for industrial deployment.