Selective oxidation of 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfural to furan-2,5-dicarboxylic acid over spinel mixed metal oxide catalyst

•Li2CoMn3O8 was used as a catalyst for the selective oxidation of HMF to FDCA.•The spinel catalyst was prepared using gel pyrolysis method.•80% isolated yield of FDCA was obtained in a gram scale reaction.•The procedure is easily scalable.

Furan-2,5-dicarboxylic acid (FDCA) is a potential platform chemical in polymer industry for manufacturing polyester, polyamides and polyurethanes. Here, we introduced Li2CoMn3O8 as an efficient catalyst for the selective oxidation of 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfural (HMF) to FDCA with 80% isolated yield in a gram scale reaction. The nanocrystalline spinel Li2CoMn3O8 catalyst was synthesized by gel pyrolysis method using urea and citric acid as complexing agent. The catalyst was characterized using PXRD, BET, ICP-MS and TEM. The catalyst is cheap and easy to prepare. The use of naturally abundant oxygen as oxidant results to high isolated product yield making this procedure scalable.

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