Catalytic Conversion of Glucose to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural over Aluminum Acetylacetonate in the Two-phase Water-Methylisobutylketone System

5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) is a kind of new green platform chemical with wide application. Glucose, which is the unit compound of cellulose, is one of the most important starting chemicals from biomass. With its low cost and wide supply, the conversion of glucose to HMF has attracted the interests of researchers. In this work, a systematic study has been conducted to evaluate the effects of operating conditions on glucose conversion to to 5-HMF using Al(acac)₃ catalyst in water-4-Methyl-2-pentanone two-phase system. The results showd that the conversion rate and the selectivity of glucose to 5-HMF with Al(acac)₃ as catalyst were higher than those with AlCl3, CrCl₃, Zr₃(PO₄)₄, MCM-41 molecular sieves and 732 Cation Exchange Resin, so Al(acac)₃ catalyst was selected for further studies. The optimum preparation conditions of 5- HMF catalyzed by Al(acac)₃ were as follows: temperature at 180°C, dosage of catalyst at mol% (based on the mass fraction of glucose), two phase ratio of 8:2 (water/methylisobutylketone), reaction time of 1.5 h. The conversion rate of glucose was found to be 98.91%, the 5-HMF yield and product selectivity was 45.91% and 46.14% respectively.