Chemicals from biomass: Efficient and facile synthesis of 5,5′(oxy-bis(methylene))bis-2-furfural from 5-hydroxymethylfurfural

An ultrasonic-assisted method to obtain 5,5′(oxy-bis(methylene))bis-2-furfural a prepolymer and an antiviral precursor was presented in the present paper. Amberlyst-15 was used as an efficient and recyclable heterogeneous catalyst to realize the etherification of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural. The crucial role of ultrasound in terms of improving the time and catalyst efficiency, reaction yield was also discussed.