Direct Synthesis of 5‐Methylfurfural from <scp>d</scp>‐Fructose by Iodide‐Mediated Transfer Hydrogenation
Jianwang Xu, Xinge Miao, Lei Liu, Yantao Wang, Weiran Yang
Abstract
Abstract Herein, a robust catalytic system was developed for the green synthesis of 5‐methylfurfural (5‐MF) by iodide‐mediated transfer hydrogenation. Around 50 % of 5‐MF was yielded from d ‐fructose within 7.5 min using NaI as the catalyst and formic acid as both the hydrogen source and co‐catalyst. The catalytic system was used for six consecutive cycles without any decrease in the yield. Various starch and raw biomass could be used as promising starting materials for 5‐MF synthesis with moderate yields, and the productivity of 5‐MF from corn starch reached 103 mmol g cat −1 h −1 , which is comparable with the best result from l ‐rhamnose. Moreover, the co‐production of 5‐MF and furfural from raw biomass makes this methodology more competitive than other routes.