A New Method for Conversion of Fructose and Glucose to 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural by Magnetic Mesoporous SBA-16 Modified to Sulfonic Acid as Lewis’s Acid Catalysts

The sustainable process and direct synthesis of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF), a valuable renewable biofuel and biochemical, was systematically studied using inexpensive catalysts and recyclable magnetic nanocatalysts. Fe3O4@SBA-16-SO3H was obtained by the synthesis of SBA-16 and was modified by MPTES and H2O2. After that, Fe3O4 was synthesized via chemical precipitation and mixed with SBA-16-SO3H for easy separation and recovery (using five cycles of catalysts with excellent yield for the synthesis of 5-HMF) and a new magnetic heterogeneous catalyst for the synthesis of 5-HMF that was found to have 95% glucose and fructose conversion and 97% yield of 5-HMF, respectively. The prepared catalyst was characterized by FT-IR, EDAX, XRD, FE-SEM, TEM, VSM, BET, and TGA techniques. The experiments were carried out with good yields and implied that the catalytic method was effective, convenient, and promising for the synthesis of 5-HMF. The present study opens a new avenue for the renewable one-pot synthesis of 5-HMF, a precious product. The efficient conversion of biomass into value-added compounds under mild and safer conditions is a cornerstone of our current research efforts to meet the needs of the chemical industry with sustainable development.