A highly efficient iron phthalocyanine-intercalated CuFe-LDH catalyst for the selective oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural to 5-formyl-2-furanic acid

A catalyst with high selectivity for the catalytic oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to 5-formyl-2-furanic acid (FFCA) in alkaline media was successfully developed by ultrasonic intercalation of a copper‑iron layered double hydroxide (CuFe-LDH) platelets with an iron phthalocyanine (FePc) complex. The effects of reaction temperature, reaction time, H 2 O 2 concentration, NaOH concentration and amount of catalyst on HMF conversion and FFCA selectivity were systematically investigated. Under the optimized testing condition the developed FePc-CuFe catalyst delivered a HMF conversion of 85% with a FFCA selectivity of 81.8%. Further, the catalyst showed excellent stability over 5 testing cycles.