MCM‐41 Immobilized Acidic Functional Ionic Liquid and Chromium(III) Complexes Catalyzed Conversion of Hexose into 5‐Hydroxymethylfurfural

Abstract

The development of novel methods to obtain biofuels and chemicals from biomass has been an immediate issue in both academic and industrial communities. In this work, a series of novel catalysts were prepared and characterized by FT‐IR, TGA, XRD, SEM, TEM, ICP‐AES, NH3‐TPD and BET, which were applied for the conversion of hexose to 5‐hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). The Cr(Salten)‐MCM‐41‐[(CH2)3SO3HVIm]HSO4 catalyst was the most active catalyst, and a glucose conversion of 99.8% with 50.2% HMF yield was obtained at 140 °C for 4 h in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). The effects of reaction temperature, reaction time, solvents and catalyst dosages were investigated in detail. MCM‐41 immobilized acidic functional ionic liquid and chromium(III) Schiff base complexes as heterogeneous catalysts can be easily recovered by simple filter treatment, exhibiting excellent stability and activity towards hexose conversion. Thus the heterogeneous catalysts were environment‐friendly for transforming biomass carbohydrates into fine chemicals.

Promoting Electrocatalytic Hydrogenation of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural over a Cooperative Ag/SnO2 Catalyst in a Wide Potential Window

“…Catalytic hydrogenation of renewable biomass feedstocks for the production of biofuels and commodity chemicals has attracted significant attention. For instance, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) is an important biomass-derived platform chemical that can be produced from cellulose, which covers about 40% of lignocellulosic biomass. – The selective hydrogenation of HMF can produce 2,5-dihydroxymethylfuran (DHMF), which is a valuable diol that is widely used in fine chemical synthesis and novel functionalized polyether and polyurethanes. – Nowadays, the catalytic hydrogenation of HMF or other biomass-derived aldehydes/ketones mainly relies on a thermocatalytic procedure under high pressure (5–10 atm) and elevated temperature (100–500 °C) using flammable hydrogen gas (H 2 ) – or adopting unstable and expensive hydride donors (such as LiAlH 4 and NaBH 4 ) in a homogeneous system. Although well developed, these methods inevitably cause several concerns regarding cost, safety, and sustainability.…”