Integration of Heterogeneous Acid and Base Catalysis for Clean Synthesis of Jet‐Fuel Precursor from Carbohydrates

C 12 branched alkane fuel precursor was produced from carbohydrates using an efficient integrated solid acid and base catalysis approach involving: i) isomerisation‐dehydration of carbohydrates to 5‐(hydroxymethyl)furfural (HMF) over solid acid catalyst having both Lewis and Brónsted sites) in a biphasic MIBK (methylisobutylketone): water + DMSO solvent system and ii) Claisen‐Schmidt condensation of crude HMF with MIBK over solid base catalyst. Initially, high yield of jet fuel precursor, (E)‐1‐(5‐(hydroxymethyl)furan‐2‐yl)‐5‐methylhex‐1‐en‐3‐one from pure HMF and MIBK was achieved over basic CaMgAl(231) catalyst. The glucose dehydration to HMF was optimized in biphasic MIBK: H 2 O‐NaCl: DMSO (8:1.5:0.5; v/v/v) system, with complete glucose conversion and 42% HMF yield over Zr‐Mont possessing both Lewis and Brønsted acid sites. In an integrated dehydration + Claisen‐Schmidt condensation sequence, Zr‐Mont catalyst was filtered off and the crude HMF with MIBK underwent Claisen‐Schmidt condensation over CaMgAl(231) catalyst. The overall 32% yield of Claisen‐Schmidt condensation product was achieved from glucose. MIBK acting also as a product extractant, could be recovered upto 80%.