Batch and Flow Synthesis of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) from Fructose as a Bioplatform Intermediate: An Experiment for the Organic or Analytical Laboratory

In this laboratory experiment students synthesize 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) by dehydration of fructose in either batch or flow chemistry conditions. Tetraethylammonium bromide (TEAB) was used as reaction medium with acidic Amberlyst 15 as heterogeneous catalyst in batch conditions or 5% H2SO4 homogeneous catalysis in flow conditions. Isolation of HMF was achieved by simple precipitation and filtration of TEAB. HMF was isolated in up to 97% yield and 98% purity in batch and 77% yield and 92% purity in flow conditions. Reaction media and catalyst were recycled.