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Effects of Water on the Copper‐Catalyzed Conversion of Hydroxymethylfurfural in Tetrahydrofuran
Author(s) -
Liu Yifei,
Mellmer Max A.,
Alonso David Martin,
Dumesic James A.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
chemsuschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.412
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1864-564X
pISSN - 1864-5631
DOI - 10.1002/cssc.201501122
Subject(s) - hydrogenolysis , chemistry , tetrahydrofuran , furan , catalysis , hydroxymethyl , hydroxymethylfurfural , solvent , organic chemistry , reaction mechanism , copper , furfural
Reaction kinetics were studied to quantify the effects of water on the conversion of hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) in THF over Cu/γ‐Al 2 O 3 at 448 K using molecular H 2 as the hydrogen source. We show that low concentrations of water (5 wt %) in the THF solvent significantly alter reaction rates and selectivities for the formation of reaction products by hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis processes. In the absence of water, HMF was converted primarily to hydrogenolysis products 2‐methyl‐5‐hydroxymethylfuran (MHMF) and 2,5‐dimethylfuran (DMF), whereas reactions carried out in THF–H 2 O mixtures (THF/H 2 O=95:5 w / w ) led to the selective production of the hydrogenation product 2,5‐bis(hydroxymethyl)furan (BHMF) and inhibition of HMF hydrogenolysis.