“…Currently, HMF production was achieved through the transformation of various carbohydrate sources including monosaccharides or polysaccharides (derived from the hydrolysis of biomass sources). − Fructose, one of the monosaccharides being derived from biomass, is considered to be a preferred starting feedstock for HMF synthesis via a chemical catalytic route, since its furan structure is easier to be converted with high selectivity toward HMF than the pyran structure of glucose and other polysaccharides . Conversion of fructose to HMF has thus been conducted in wide ranges of reaction solvents, such as water, organic solvent, , and aqueous–organic biphasic solvent systems. , However, HMF in acid–aqueous solutions is extremely unstable, and it can be further degraded into undesired side products such as levulinic acid (LA) and formic acid through rehydration ,, and soluble and insoluble polymers known as humins through self- or cross-polymerization. , The selectivity toward HMF can be improved in organic solvents [e.g., dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO)] or water–organic solvent biphasic systems (e.g., H 2 O/MIBK) as the results of the suppressed side reactions. However, organic solvents with a high toxicity and boiling point are disfavored for industrial HMF production, considering the energy consumption of subsequent separation of HMF and the negative environmental impact of its toxicity.…”