Conversion of fructose to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural catalyzed by heteropolyacid salts

The dehydration of fructose to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural(5-HMF) catalyzed by a variety of heteropolyacid salts has been studied.The highest 5-HMF yield was 99.2%,obtained using a CePW12O40 catalyst in DMSO with 5%(mass fraction) of catalyst at 160 ℃ with reaction time 8h.Furthermore,the conversion of fructose to 5-HMF catalyzed by heteropolyacid salts was conducted under microwave conditions.Compared with the conventional heating method,microwave heating showed a remarkable ability to both accelerate the reaction rate and improve the yield of 5-HMF.Moreover,the catalyst could be separated from the reaction mixture by a simple process at the end of the reaction and the catalyst could be reused six times without loss of activity.