Production of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural from fructose by using sulfated nano alumina

In the present paper, conversion of biomass derived fructose to 5-hydroxymethyl furfural by using sulfated alumina and sulfated nano alumina has been investigated. Preparation of catalysts achieved by sulfonation of Al2O3 and nano-Al2O3 by chlorosulfonic acid. Then, the prepared catalysts were characterized by using BET, SEM, TEM, FT-IR, and TGA techniques. The effect of various parameters such as catalyst type, catalyst loading, solvent, reaction time, reaction temperature and fructose concentration was examined. The best results obtained by using Al2O3-SO3H as the catalyst, the optimum temperature was 130 oC and 4 hours for the reaction time. The maximum 5-HMF yield was obtained 78%.