A pale yellow liquid, it is an unsaturated bicyclic ketone-diether formed from levoglucosan by loss of two molecules of water.

As a product of the acid-catalysed pyrolysis of cellulose, D-glucose, and levoglucosan, this liquid hydrocarbon is of interest as a biofuel and biofeedstock.

The availability of multiple sources is a key advantage when compared to other platform chemicals which are solely derived from biomass.

[6] Cellulose-containing waste from biorefineries can also be converted into 6-8% LGO under microwave irradiation in addition to the usual decomposition products such as hydroxymethylfurfural HMF, formic acid, formaldehyde, CO2 and water.

[9] Palladium on carbon (and related Pd- and Pt-based catalysts) act on the title compound by hydrogenation (i.e. dihydrolevoglucosenone and levoglucosanol) and hydrogenolysis (i.e. tetrahydrofurandimethanol (THFDM) and 1,6-hexanediol).