A heteropoly acid ionic crystal containing Cr as an active catalyst for dehydration of monosaccharides to produce 5-HMF in water

Cs-2[Cr3O(OOCC2H5)(6).H2O)(3)](2)[alpha-SiW12O40], a chromium-based heteropoly acid (HPA) ionic crystal, was demonstrated to be an active heterogeneous catalyst for production of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) from fructose or glucose. The dependencies of catalytic activity on reaction parameters such as solvent, temperature and reaction time were investigated and the reaction conditions were optimized. Based on fructose, the yield of HMF reaches 86% and 56% when using DMSO and water as solvents, respectively. Starting from glucose, a yield of HMF up to 48% can be achieved for both aqueous and DMSO media. The catalyst was successfully recycled 5 times.