One‐Pot Synthesis of Renewable Phthalic Anhydride from 5‐Hydroxymethfurfural by using MoO3/Cu(NO3)2 as Catalyst

Abstract Herein, a synthetic pathway to renewable phthalic anhydride (PA) from 5‐hydroxymethfurfural (HMF) in one pot is reported. The commonly available catalysts MoO 3 and Cu(NO 3 ) 2 play a crucial role in integrating the multiple steps of the reaction, namely decarbonylation of HMF to active furyl intermediate (AFI), oxidation of HMF to maleic anhydride (MA), Diels–Alder cycloaddition of AFI and MA, and subsequent dehydration, in one pot. Under mild reaction conditions, a 63.2 % yield of PA is obtained from HMF. Compared with the currently reported route to renewable PA based on the Diels–Alder cycloaddition of biomass‐derived MA and furan, this convenient one‐pot synthesis represents a great improvement in efficiency.