An effective pathway for converting carbohydrates to biofuel 5-ethoxymethylfurfural via 5-hydroxymethylfurfural with deep eutectic solvents (DESs)

In this study, we put forward an effective two-step method of producing biofuel 5-ethoxymethylfurfural (5-EMF) from carbohydrates with DES mixture. With the catalysis of Amberlyst-15, 77.3% and 65.2% yield of 5-EMF were obtained respectively from the fructose and inulin in mild conditions. In addition, CrCl3 modified Amberlyst-15 showed excellent catalytic performance in the aldoses dehydration, 46.7% and 50.2% of 5-EMF yield could be obtained from glucose and sucrose in the two-step reactions. Moreover, all catalysts used in this study could be effectively reused for several times.