Microwave-Assisted Catalytic Conversion of 5-HMF for Biofuel Additives by Molybdophosphoric Acid Encapsulated KCC-1

Abstract

In this work, the microwave-assisted reaction of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) into valuable ether and acylated production formation was investigated with the help of molybdophosphoric acid encapsulated dendritic fibrous silica (KCC-1) as a catalyst. XRD, N2 adsorption-desorption, SEM, FT-IR, NH3-TPD, and TEM were used to analyze the physicochemical and structural properties of the synthesized catalysts. The microwave etherification of 5-HMF with ethanol was tested using synthesized catalysts. The effects of the reaction temperature, reaction time, catalytic amount, and microwave power were investigated. The resulting MPA-KCC-1 and IMPA-KCC-1 catalysts demonstrated excellent activity for the etherification of 5-HMF with ethanol, producing 5-(hydroxymethyl) furfural diethyl acetal (HMFDEA) and 5-(ethoxymethyl)furfural diethyl acetal (EMFDEA) products selectively. The significant advantages of the work are the selective production of EMFDEA at 82%, the catalyst can be easily removed via filtration, and the catalyst activity remains nearly intact even after five reaction cycles.