Efficient conversion of carbohydrates into 5-ethoxymethylfurfural in ethanol catalyzed by AlCl3

Efficient synthesis of 5-ethoxymethylfurfural (EMF) has been developed from various carbohydrates in ethanol through a one-pot reaction strategy. Commercially available AlCl3 showed a high catalytic activity for the conversion of carbohydrates into EMF. EMF was obtained in a high yield of 92.9% from the etherification of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) by ethanol. More importantly, EMF could also be achieved in a high yield of 71.2% directly from fructose through a one-pot reaction, which integrated the dehydration of fructose into HMF and the followed etherification of HMF. Finally, EMF could also been synthesized from various carbohydrates with moderate to high yield. Due to the simple preparative procedure and the availability of materials, our method shows a promising prospect for the large-scale synthesis of EMF from renewable carbohydrates in future.