Effective selectivity conversion of glucose to furan chemicals in the aqueous deep eutectic solvent

This work demonstrated a smart route of biomass-derived glucose conversion in a biphasic aqueous deep eutectic solvent (DES), which was formed by glucose, ChCl, water, and co-solvent EtAc. Four kinds of value-added furan chemicals, including 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), 5-(Acetyloxy) methyl furfural (AMF), 5-Chloromethylfurfural (CMF) and 5-Ethoxymethylfurfural (EMF) were successfully synthesized through a single-step reaction by monitoring the reaction conditions. High yield to 73.2% furan products, including 52.9% of HMF and 17.5% of AMF was obtained from a high concentration of glucose under mild conditions. Moreover, the produced furan mixture could further be converted into other useful chemicals, 2,5-furan dicarboxylic acid (FDCA) and 2,5-dimethyl furan (DMF), directly through simple oxidation and hydrogenation methods, respectively. This study suggested a sustainable synthetic pathway from abundant biomass glucose to furan products and value-added chemicals in the presence of completely green material and catalysts, which showed advantages for the industrial application. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study successfully synthesized four value-added furan chemicals, including 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural and 5-(Acetyloxy) methyl furfural, with a high yield of 73.2%, which could further be converted into other useful chemicals.