Efficient and selective conversion of hexose to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural with tin–zirconium-containing heterogeneous catalysts

•The SnO2–ZrO2 and SO42 −/SnO2–ZrO2 are prepared by Sol–gel methods.•Efficient dehydration of hexose to produce 5-hydroxymethylfurfural is achieved.•54–76% yields of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural from fructose are obtained.•The recycle of Sn-based heterogeneous catalysts is investigated.

Efficient and selective production of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) from the hexose is achieved in the presence of heterogeneous Sn-based catalyst. The mixed SnO2–ZrO2 is prepared from zirconium n-propoxide and different metal Sn precursors using Sol–gel method. The sulfated SnO2–ZrO2 (SO42 −/SnO2–ZrO2) is obtained by the impregnation method with H2SO4 solution. All catalytic materials are detected with XRD, TG, SEM, TEM and BET techniques in order to reveal the physical properties and structures of these materials. When these materials were used in the dehydration of fructose, it was found that the suitable ratio of Sn/Zr is 0.5, and the catalytic activity of SO42 −/SnO2–ZrO2 is higher than that of SnO2–ZrO2 where more than 75.0% yield of HMF was obtained for 2.5 h at 120 °C. The effects of reaction temperature and reaction time were also investigated. Moreover, the recycling experiment of catalyst shows that the catalytic activity can be almost kept unchanged after being used five times.

Graphical abstractAn efficient and selective production of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) from the hexose is achieved in the presence of heterogeneous SnO2–ZrO2 or sulfated SnO2–ZrO2 (SO42 −/SnO2–ZrO2) catalyst; therein, 54–76% yields are obtained from the dehydration of fructose in different solvents.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide