Highly Effective Non‐Noble MnO2 Catalysts for 5‐Hydroxymethylfurfural Oxidation to 2,5‐Furandicarboxylic Acid

Abstract Noble metal‐free catalyst or catalytic oxidation of 5‐hydroxymethylfurfural into 2,5‐furandicarboxylic acid are proposed in this study as a proposal to solve one of the great disadvantages of this reaction of using preferably noble metal‐based catalysts. The catalytic activity of six MnO 2 crystal structures is studied as alternative. The obtained results showed a strong connection between catalytic activity the type of MnO 2 structure organization and redox behavior. Among all tested catalysts, ϵ‐MnO 2 showed the best performance with an excellent yield of 74 % of 2,5‐furandicarboxylic acid at full ‐hydroxymethylfurfural conversion.