5-(Chloromethyl)furfural (CMF) is cheaper than sugars, because it can be obtained from biomass waste. Herein, the stepwise conversion of CMF to 2,5-bis(hydroxymethyl)furan (BHMF) via 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural (HMF) was demonstrated for the first time. The purified CMF was hydrolyzed in continuous mode followed by extraction with ethyl acetate (EA), resulting in a HMF yield of 70 mol%. The following factors were assessed during continuous hydrogenation of the produced HMF: the presence of EA in the reaction solvent, HMF concentrations of up to 10 wt% in the feed, the mass production of mesoporous Cu-Al 2 O 3 (meso-CuA-kg), the shaping of meso-CuA-kg into cylindrical pellets, and the setup of the catalytic reactor. Through these efforts, the hydrogenation of HMF over meso-CuA-kg could be sustained for 100 h under the above optimized conditions, affording BHMF in 98 % yield. The approach described in this study can greatly contribute to the valueadded transformation of CMF into HMF and BHMF.

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Invited for this month's cover is the group of Prof. Young‐Woong Suh at Hanyang University, Republic of Korea. The cover picture depicts the conceptual design of plastic manufacture starting from 5‐(chloromethyl)furfural (CMF) generated from raw biomass (rice straw in the picture). The processing is to hydrolyze the CMF to 5‐(hydroxymethyl)furfural (HMF) in aqueous medium, followed by catalytic hydrogenation into 2,5‐bis(hydroxymethyl)furan (BHMF). The BHMF can be used as a monomer for plastics including polyurethanes, epoxy resins, and polyesters. More information can be found in the Research Article by Y.‐W. Suh and co‐workers.