Conversion of Glucose into 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural and Levulinic Acid Catalyzed by SO42–/ZrO2 in a Biphasic Solvent System

5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and levulinic acid (LA) are two important platform compounds that can be produced by the dehydration of hexoses from hydrolysis of cellulose. In this study, glucose dehydration was catalyzed by the SO42–/ZrO2 catalyst in the NaCl–THF/H2O biphasic solvent system. Complete conversion of glucose was achieved at 160 °C. The highest HMF yield and LA yield were 61.84% and 29.68%, respectively. The results showed that the conversion and product distribution were influenced by catalyst acidity, solvent composition, temperature, and time. The SO42– load greatly changed the acidity of the catalyst, thus affecting the product distribution. By changing the composition of the catalyst and the biphasic solvent system, different yields of HMF and LA could be obtained, so as to realize directional synthesis of the target products.