Effective conversion of carbohydrates into biofuel precursor 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) over Cr-incorporated mesoporous zirconium phosphate

Abstract

Catalytic conversion of carbohydrates into the platform chemical 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) is an important reaction in biomass conversion. In this work, the catalytic conversion of carbohydrates into HMF was studied over a heterogeneous chromium-exchanged zirconium phosphate catalyst (ZrP-Cr). Some important reaction parameters were studied with the aim to obtain high HMF yield from the dehydration of carbohydrates. Under optimal conditions, the dehydration of fructose afforded HMF in a high yield of 94.5%, and that was 43.2% when glucose was used as the feedstock. The recycling experiment indicated that the catalyst was stable, which indicated that catalyst can be reused by six times without significant loss of its catalytic activity.