Short communicationMonolithic acidic catalysts for the dehydration of xylose into furfural

•A hierarchically porous zirconium phosphate monolith with high surface area is fabricated.•Both Lewis and Brønsted acid sites are found present in the as-synthesized and calcined monoliths.•High catalytic activity over dehydration of xylose into furfural reaction is demonstrated.

We report the application of hierarchically porous zirconium phosphate monoliths with high surface area as acidic heterogeneous catalysts for the dehydration of xylose into furfural. Analyses by NH3-temperature programmed desorption and 31P solid state NMR reveal the presence of both Lewis and Brønsted acid sites in the as-synthesized zirconium phosphate monolith and that calcined at 600 °C. High accessibility and availability of the acidic sites and easy separation of the monolith from the liquid medium result in good catalytic activity (initial reaction rate for furfural production as 8.7 mmol gcat− 1 h− 1) with easy handling of the catalyst.

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