Dehydration of D-xylose into furfural over bimetallic salts of heteropolyacid in DMSO/H2O mixture

Mesoporous bi-metallic salts of heteropoly acid was synthesized for the transformation of xylose into furfural in a DMSO-H2O system. The introduction of Sn4+ into the structure of Cs0.5PW did not change the Keggin structure. Sn4+ occupied the surface available space of Cs+, which helps improve catalytic performance towards xylose dehydration. Supported Sn0.625Cs0.5PW/CH displayed similar catalytic activities with Sn0.625Cs0.5PW and good stability after six cycles of recycling.