Silver-exchanged heteropolyacid catalyst (Ag1H2PW): An efficient heterogeneous catalyst for the synthesis of 5-ethoxymethylfurfural from 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and fructose

Three kinds of silver-exchanged phosphotungstic acid catalysts were prepared and used for the synthesis of potential biofuel 5-ethoxymethylfurfural (EMF). It was found that the partially silver exchanged phosphotungstic acid (Ag1H2PW) showed the best catalytic activity among silver exchanged phosphotungstic acids prepared. The highest EMF yield of 88.7% was obtained from 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) at 100 degrees C after 10 h. Furthermore, Ag1H2PW also showed high catalytic activity for the one-pot conversion of fructose into EMF with a yield of 69.5%. In addition, Ag1H2PW could be reused several times without a significant loss of its catalytic activity. (C) 2014 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.