5-hydroxymethylfurfural and hydroxyhydroquinone

Noncatalytic reactions of D-fructose were kinetically investigated in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), water, and methanol as a function of time at temperatures of 30-150 °C by applying in situ (13)C NMR spectroscopy. The products were quantitatively analyzed with distinction of isomeric species by taking advantage of site-selective (13)C labeling technique. In DMSO, D-fructose was converted first into 3,4-dihydroxy-2-dihydroxymethyl-5-hydroxymethyltetrahydrofuran having no double bond in the ring, subsequently into 4-hydroxy-5-hydroxymethyl-4,5-dihydrofuran-2-carbaldehyde having one double bond through dehydration, and finally into 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde (5-HMF) having two double bonds. No other reaction pathways were involved, as shown from the carbon mass balance. In water, 5-HMF, the final product in DMSO, was generated with the precursors undetected and furthermore transformed predominantly into formic and levulinic acids and slightly into 1,2,4-benzenetriol accompanied by polymerization. D-glucose was also produced through the reversible transformation of the reactant D-fructose. In methanol, some kinds of anhydro-D-fructoses were generated instead of 5-HMF. The reaction pathways can thus be controlled by taking advantage of the solvent effect. The D-fructose conversion reactions are of the first order with respect to the concentration of D-fructose and proceed on the order of minutes in DMSO but on the order of hours in water and methanol. The rate constant was three orders of magnitude larger in DMSO than in water or methanol.

Topics: Carbon Isotopes; Dimethyl Sulfoxide; Formates; Fructose; Furaldehyde; Hydroquinones; Kinetics; Levulinic Acids; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; Methanol; Solvents; Temperature; Thermodynamics; Water

The formation of humin-type polymers and other products during exposure of glucose to methanol/water mixtures with methanol/water mass ratios from 10 to 0.22 in the presence of the acid catalyst Amberlyst 70 was investigated. In water-rich medium (methanol/water mass ratio: 0.22), dehydration of glucose produced 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural (HMF), furfural, and substantial amounts of polymer. In methanol-rich medium (methanol/water mass ratio: 10), the hydroxyl and carbonyl groups of glucose, HMF or furfural were protected via etherification and acetalisation. These protections stabilized these reactive compounds and significantly lowered the polymer formation (1.43% of the glucose loaded). The polymerization of glucose and HMF was also favored at high temperatures and long residence times. Conversely, high catalyst dosage mainly accelerated the conversion of glucose to methyl levulinate. Thus, the polymerization of glucose and HMF can be suppressed in methanol/water mixtures with high methanol ratios, at low temperatures and short residence times.

Topics: Catalysis; Elements; Esterification; Furaldehyde; Glucose; Humic Substances; Hydroquinones; Kinetics; Methanol; Models, Chemical; Polymers; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; Temperature; Time Factors; Water