Direct Conversion of Glucose to 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) Using an Efficient and Inexpensive Boehmite Catalyst in Dimethyl Sulfoxide

With the aim of developing an efficient and inexpensive catalyst for the production of HMF from glucose, a solid Lewis acid catalyst gamma-AlOOH, a common industrial catalyst with easy preparation and low price, was used as the sole catalyst to directly synthesize 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) from glucose in dimethyl sulfoxide. Various reaction parameters, such as catalyst loading, temperature, reaction duration, and solvent, were investigated. An impressive HMF yield of 61.2% was obtained at the reaction conditions of 130 degrees C for 3 h. Furthermore, HMF yields from other carbohydrates such as fructose (44.8%), cellulose (50.3%), maltose (53.6%) and sucrose (62.2%) could be achieved using gamma-AlOOH as a catalyst. More importantly, the catalyst gamma-AlOOH could be reused several times without the loss of its catalytic activities. After five reaction runs, an HMF yield of 57.2% was obtained.