Hydrochloric acid-catalyzed coproduction of furfural and 5-(chloromethyl)furfural assisted by a phase transfer catalyst

Furfural has been produced in 53% isolated yield from D-xylose within an aqueous HCl-1,2-dichloroethane biphasic reaction mixture using benzyltributylammonium chloride (BTBAC) as a phase transfer catalyst. The use of BTBAC noticeably improved the yield of furfural compared to that in the control reaction. The reaction was optimized on the reaction temperature, duration, concentration of HCl, and the loading of BTBAC. Furfural and 5-(chloromethyl)furfural (CMF) have also been coproduced from a mixture of pentose and hexose sugars. Under optimized conditions (100 degrees C, 3 h, 20.2% HCl, 10 wt% BTBAC), CMF and furfural were isolated in 17% and 53% yield, respectively, from a mixture of glucose and xylose. In addition, levulinic acid was isolated from the aqueous layer in 31% yield.