Selective dehydration of fructose and sucrose to 5‐hydroxymethyl‐2‐furfural with heterogeneous ge (IV) catalysts

Abstract

The selective dehydration of fructose and sucrose to 5‐hydroxymethyl‐2‐furfural (HMF) has been achieved using heterogeneous Ge (IV) catalysts. Based on GeO2 material, two catalyst systems are found to be efficient for the dehydration process. In the presence of the dual GeO2Ge3N4 catalyst, fructose and sucrose was converted to HMF in 62 and 37% yield at 150°C for 100 min, respectively,. Moreover, with sulfated GeO2 (SO42−/GeO2) as the catalyst, a 68% yield of HMF from the dehydration of fructose was obtained in dimethyl sulfoxide solvent. The effects of reaction temperature and reaction time were studied in the fructose dehydration. In addition, further investigations showed that dual GeO2Ge3N4 catalyst is superior to SO42−/GeO2 for the conversion of sucrose to generate HMF under similar conditions. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 34: 207–210, 2015