Facile Production of 5‑Hydroxymethyl-2-Furfural from Industrially Supplied Fructose Syrup Using a Wood Powder-Derived Carbon Catalyst in an Ethylene Glycol-Based Solvent

Petroleum-independent and economically viable production of 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfural (HMF) from industrially supplied high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) using a wood powder-derived carbonaceous solid acid in an ethylene glycol (EG)-based solvent was developed. EG-based solvents were preferable to the dehydration of HFCS into HMF owing to stabilizing reversible intermediates. In addition, low boiling EG-based solvents were readily removed to isolate HMF. As a parametric study on the dehydration of HFCS into HMF in an EG-based solvent, effects of reaction temperature, initial concentration of fructose, catalyst dosage, and water content on reaction rate and HMF yield were investigated. Sulfonated amorphous carbonaceous materials (∼0.7 mmol of SO3H/g) were prepared from wood powder via incomplete hydrothermal carbonization and then sulfonization, and they were applied to the dehydration of HFCS in glyme, affording HMF in 80% yield. It was also found that a prolonged reaction enabled further conversion of HMF into levulinic acid in a highly selective manner.