Effective one-pot chemoenzymatic cascade catalysis of biobased feedstock for synthesizing 2,5-diformylfuran in a sustainable reaction system

Abstract

2,5-Diformylfuran, which can be prepared via the oxidation of biobased HMF, has received considerable attention because of its potential applications in producing furan-based chemicals and functional materials, such as biofuels, polymers, fluorescent material, vitrimers, surfactants, antifungal agents and medicines. This work aimed to develop an efficient one-pot process for chemoenzymatic transformation of biobased substrate to 2,5-diformylfuran with deep eutectic solvent (DES) Betaine:Lactic acid ([BA][LA]) catalyst and oxidase biocatalyst in [BA][LA]–H2O. Using waste bread (50 g/L) and D-fructose (18.0 g/L) as feedstocks in [BA][LA]–H2O (15:85, vol/vol), the yields of HMF were 32.8% (15 min) and 91.6% (90 min) at 150 °C, respectively. These prepared HMF could be biologically oxidized to 2,5-diformylfuran by Escherichia coli pRSFDuet-GOase, achieving a productivity of 0.631 g 2,5-diformylfuran/(g fructose) and 0.323 g 2,5-diformylfuran/(g bread) after 6 h under the mild performance condition. This bioresourced intermediate 2,5-diformylfuran was effectively synthesized from biobased feedstock in an environmentally-friendly system.