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Science 30 June 2006:
Vol. 312. no. 5782, pp. 1933 - 1937
DOI: 10.1126/science.1126337
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Reports

Phase Modifiers Promote Efficient Production of Hydroxymethylfurfural from Fructose

Yuriy Román-Leshkov, Juben N. Chheda, James A. Dumesic*

Furan derivatives obtained from renewable biomass resources have the potential to serve as substitutes for the petroleum-based building blocks that are currently used in the production of plastics and fine chemicals. We developed a process for the selective dehydration of fructose to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) that operates at high fructose concentrations (10 to 50 weight %), achieves high yields (80% HMF selectivity at 90% fructose conversion), and delivers HMF in a separation-friendly solvent. In a two-phase reactor system, fructose is dehydrated in the aqueous phase with the use of an acid catalyst (hydrochloric acid or an acidic ion-exchange resin) with dimethylsulfoxide and/or poly(1-vinyl-2-pyrrolidinone) added to suppress undesired side reactions. The HMF product is continuously extracted into an organic phase (methylisobutylketone) modified with 2-butanol to enhance partitioning from the reactive aqueous solution.

Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: dumesic{at}engr.wisc.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Catalytic Conversion of Biomass to Monofunctional Hydrocarbons and Targeted Liquid-Fuel Classes.
E. L. Kunkes, D. A. Simonetti, R. M. West, J. C. Serrano-Ruiz, C. A. Gartner, and J. A. Dumesic (2008)
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Metal Chlorides in Ionic Liquid Solvents Convert Sugars to 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural.
H. Zhao, J. E. Holladay, H. Brown, and Z. C. Zhang (2007)
Science 316, 1597-1600
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