Conversion of sugars (sucrose and glucose) into 5-hydroxymethylfurfural in pyridinium based dicationic ionic liquid ([C10(EPy)2]2Br-) with chromium chloride as a catalyst

In this work, conversion of sucrose and glucose has been studied with pyridinium based dicationic ionic liquid as solvent and CrCl2 as a catalyst. They have shown good performance and gave good yield for 5HMF. Highly efficient and selective dehydration of sugars to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) was achieved in [C-10(EPy)(2)]2Br(-) (1,1'-decane-1,10-diylbis (3-ethylpyridinium) dibromide) with 2.3 mol% CrCl2 under mild conditions with a sucrose conversion of 78.5% and 83.9%, HMF selectivity was achieved in 60 min reaction time at 110 degrees C. HMF yield of 47% obtained from glucose in the presence of metal chloride (2.1 mol% CrCl2) at 110 degrees C in 120 min reaction time. The effect of the reaction temperature, time, and catalyst concentration was investigated in detail. The results strongly suggested that an ionic liquid with CrCl2 can play an important role in exploring new efficient and easy to use processes for the dehydration of 5HMF. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.