The hydrogen peroxide-mediated oxidation of biorenewable furfural to 2 (5H)-furanone using heteropolyacids supported on ammonium Y zeolite as the catalyst

A series of heteropolyacid supported on ammonium Y zeolite (HPA-NH4YZ) catalysts were prepared and used for the catalytic oxidation of furfural to 2(5H)-furanone in aqueous hydrogen peroxide. The catalysts were characterized by PXRD, FTIR, TGA, and SEM analyses. The organic-solvent-free reaction was optimized on temperature, duration, loading of catalyst, and the equivalent of H2O2. The 20%PTA-NH4YZ catalyst showed the best catalytic activity giving 2(5H)-furanone in 40% isolated yield by solvent extraction under optimized conditions (20 wt% cat., 100 degrees C, 90 min, 7.5 eq. 30%H2O2). In addition, around 20% of succinic acid was recovered from the aqueous layer. (c) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Conference on Advances in Material Science and Chemistry-2020.

Automated summary

Heteropolyacid supported on ammonium Y zeolite catalysts were utilized for the oxidation of furfural to 2(5H)-furanone, achieving the best catalytic activity under optimized reaction conditions without organic solvents, and successfully recovering succinic acid from the aqueous layer.