Optimization of production of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural from glucose in a water: Acetone biphasic system

Abstract

5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) is considered to be an important building block for biorefineries and has a high potential for the production of chemicals and fuels. Production of HMF from glucose was studied using phosphoric acid as catalyst, in a water:acetone system with volume ratio of 1:2 and NaCl. An experimental design was applied to examine the influence of temperature, time and concentration of catalyst on the HMF yield. HMF yields of more than 50 % were obtained when using 200 °C, 8.4 min and 0.8% of catalyst. The temperature is the main factor influencing the HMF yield.