Direct Conversion of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural to Furanic Diether by Copper-Loaded Hierarchically Structured ZSM-5 Catalyst in a Fixed-Bed Reactor

The highly-efficient conversion of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to 2,5-bis(ethoxymethyl)furan (BEMF) was achieved over the copper-loaded hierarchically structured ZSM-5 (Cu/HSZ) catalysts in the continuous fixed-bed reactor. The main reaction path for BEMF synthesis on the Cu/HSZ catalysts was confirmed as following: HMF was firstly hydrogenated to BHMF intermediates over metal sites and then the formed BHMF was etherified by acid sites. Benefiting from the ammonia evaporation (AE) method promoted the dispersion of copper and reduced the acidity, the Cu/HSZ-AE catalyst exhibited more excellent BEMF yield and stability than the catalyst prepared by conventional incipient-wetness impregnation (Cu/HSZ-IW). Indeed, the inactivation of Cu/HSZ-IW catalyst was mainly attributed to the deactivation of copper by carbon species deposition.

Automated summary

The efficient conversion of HMF to BEMF was achieved using Cu-loaded hierarchically structured ZSM-5 catalysts. The main reaction pathway involved hydrogenation and etherification steps. The catalyst prepared using the ammonia evaporation method showed higher performance and stability compared to the catalyst prepared by conventional impregnation method.