Influence of alkali and alkaline earth metal salts on glucose conversion to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural in an aqueous system

The aqueous phase acid-catalyzed reaction of glucose to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) was performed with the addition of alkali and alkaline earth metal salts. Previous studies investigated this reaction in a bi-phasic system using salts to enhance the partitioning of HMF and suppress undesired products thereby increasing the overall selectivity. The results of this study suggest the presence of alkaline earth salt/glucose interactions that affect glucose conversion and HMF yield. While sulfate salts tended to lead to higher activity than chloride salts, the further addition of HCl led to decreased conversion through a competitive anion effect (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.