Conversion of bamboo fiber into 5-hydroxymethylfurfural catalyzed by sulfamic acid with microwave assistance in biphasic system

• NH2SO3H has the unique catalytic features and intrinsic zwitterionic property to catalyze degradation of bamboo fiber to produce HMF in biphasic system.
• NaCl can be regarded as the continuous separation of HMF from water phase to organic phase.
• Providing an approach for more effective utilization of bamboo fiber as potential feedstock.
• Microwave assistance was high-efficiency.

The present work reports the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) catalyzed by solid organic acid catalyst with microwave heating in H2O/THF biphasic system. The 52.2% yield of HMF was achieved from the bamboo fiber degradation using NH2SO3H as catalyst at 180 °C for 40 min with 500 Hz microwave heating. The results showed that HMF yield increased significantly with adding NaCl, which not only could effectively increase the HMF distribution coefficient between organic phase and water phase, but also can separate HMF from water phase to organic phase continuously. Moreover, the catalytic system also showed effectiveness to convert other raw lignocellulosic variants to HMF, including softwood, hardwood, and cotton in the optimal biphasic system.

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