One-pot synthesis of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural from glucose over zirconium doped mesoporous KIT-6

Zirconium doped mesoporous KIT-6 samples with different Si/Zr ratios were synthesized by the direct hydrothermal method. Various characterization techniques confirm that highly distributed ZrO 2 nanoparticles and multi-coordinated Zr 4+ species are incorporated in the mesoporous composites. One-pot synthesis of 5-hydroxymethylfurfura(HMF) from glucose was examined in the presence of Zr-KIT-6(20) the molar ratio of Si to Zr is 20 under aqueous system. The effects of temperature, reaction time, catalyst dosage and biphasic solvent system on the conversion of glucose and the HMF yield were investigated. It was found that the glucose conversion and the HMF yield have been improved from 54.8% to 79.0% and from 19.5% to 34.5% in the biphasic MIBK-water system, respectively. Both the acidity of Zr-KIT-6(20) and the biphasic MIBK-water system are responsible for the improved performance of glucose dehydration to HMF.