Heterogeneous and homogeneous catalytic approaches for the sustainable synthesis of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural

In recent years, global warming and diminishing fossil resources have driven society to find renewable alternatives and biomass has attracted much attention due to its potential to produce valuable compounds, biofuels and chemicals. Among biomass-derived products, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) has been classified by the United States Department of Energy as one of the top-12 promising building blocks and it is considered a “sleeping giant” which can be further transformed into a wide variety of value-added derivatives. HMF can be obtained by the acid catalysed dehydration of C6 fraction of biomass, which includes monosaccharides and polysaccharides. Therefore, HMF synthesis from fructose, glucose and inulin has been studied in water in the presence of heterogeneous or homogeneous catalysts identifying reaction conditions as much sustainable as possible.