High-Yield 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural Synthesis from Crude Sugar Beet Juice in a Biphasic Microreactor

Abstract

5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) is an important biobased platform chemical obtainable in high selectivity by the hydrolysis of fructose (FRC). However, FRC is expensive, making the production of HMF at a competitive market price highly challenging. Here, it is shown that sugar beet thick juice, a crude, sucrose-rich intermediate in sugar refining, is an excellent feedstock for HMF synthesis. Unprecedented high selectivities and yields of '90 % for HMF were achieved in a biphasic reactor setup at 150 °C using salted diluted thick juice with H2SO4 as catalyst and 2-methyltetrahydrofuran as a bioderived extraction solvent. The conversion of glucose, obtained by sucrose inversion, could be limited to '10 mol %, allowing its recovery for further use. Interestingly, purified sucrose led to significantly lower HMF selectivity and yields, showing advantages from both an economic and chemical selectivity perspective. This opens new avenues for more cost-effective HMF production.