Transesterification of Tributyrin and Dehydration of Fructose over a Carbon-Based Solid Acid Prepared by Carbonization and Sulfonation of Glucose

A series of carbon-based sulfonated solid acid (CS) catalysts can be prepared through a facile method of direct simultaneous carbonization and sulfonation of d-glucose with concentrated sulfuric acid without a hydrothermal process. Temperature is a key factor in obtaining CS catalysts with higher amounts of -SO3H acid sites. The transesterification of tributyrin with methanol and the dehydration of fructose to 5-hydroxymenthylfurfural (5-HMF) are investigated over the CS catalysts. The CS-150 catalyst, which is the CS catalyst prepared at 150 degrees C, shows much higher catalytic activity to give a tributyrin conversion of 99.4%. The yield of methyl butyrate is 97.2% and a remarkably high yield of 5-HMF (93%) can be obtained efficiently; these yields result from the high acid density of -SO3H. Good linearity is displayed between the total acid density and yield of methyl butyrate/5-HMF. The CS-150 catalyst has high stability and good recyclability for the dehydration of fructose.