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 MnO2 crystal structures is studied as alternative. The obtained results showed a strong connection between catalytic activity the type of MnO2 structure organization and redox behavior. Among all tested catalysts, ϵ‐MnO2 showed the best performance with an excellent yield of 74 % of 2,5‐furandicarboxylic acid at full ‐hydroxymethylfurfural conversion.