Nano-ruthenium particles supported on a core-shell shuttle: As an efficient lipophilic catalyst for the aerobic oxidation of biomass-derived 5-(Hydroxymethyl)furfural

•The catalyst has a unique nano-sized core-shell structure.•The catalyst is first used in the oxidation of 5-(Hydroxymethyl)furfural.•The catalyst we synthesized is lipophilic, thus resulting in higher conversions.•We examined various kinds of solvents and carriers for the oxidation.

We synthesize a novel mesoporous core-shell shuttle, which is lipophilic. It was used as the precursor loading the ruthenium nanoparticles to afford the catalyst for the aerobic oxidation of 5-(Hydroxymethyl)furfural. The whole oxidation process with the catalyst is highly efficient and chemo-selective. The shuttle can take Ru nanoparticles (RuNP) to the organic phase for catalyzing and make the reaction homogeneous resulting in a high conversion of 5-(Hydroxymethyl)furfural. The catalyst is stable and can be reused for at least five runs.