An in Situ NMR Study of the Mechanism for the Catalytic Conversion of Fructose to 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural and then to Levulinic Acid Using 13 C Labeled d -Fructose
- Department of Chemistry and Institute for Atom Efficient Chemical Transformation, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States
The pathways for the formation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) by dehydration of d-fructose and for the formation of levulinic acid and formic acid from HMF by rehydration were investigated by in situ13C and 1H NMR using both unlabeled and 13C-labeled fructose. Water or DMSO was used as the solvent with Amberlyst 70, PO43–/niobic acid, or sulfuric acid as catalysts. Only HMF is observed using NMR for fructose dehydration in DMSO with any of the three catalysts or without a catalyst. For each system, results with 13C-labeled fructose indicate that the first carbon (C-1) or sixth carbon (C-6) of fructose maps onto the corresponding carbons of HMF. For fructose dehydration in H2O with a PO43–/niobic acid catalyst, in addition to HMF, furfural was observed as a product. However, we show that furfural is not a reaction product deriving from HMF under our conditions. Rather our data indicate that there is a parallel reaction pathway open to fructose when the reaction takes place in H2O with a PO43–/niobic acid catalyst. The corresponding 13C-labeled results show that the first carbon in fructose maps onto the first carbon (aldehyde carbon) in furfural. Using 13C-enriched HMF formed from dehydration of 13C-labeled fructose in DMSO or H2O, we investigated the pathway for HMF rehydration to levulinic and formic acid. The data in different solvents and with different catalysts are consistent with a common mechanism for HMF rehydration, which results in the C-1 and C-6 carbon of HMF being transformed to the carbon of formic acid and methyl carbon (C-5) of levulinic acid, respectively.
- Research Organization:
- Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Institute for Atom-efficient Chemical Transformations (IACT)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE SC Office of Basic Energy Sciences (SC-22)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-06CH11357
- OSTI ID:
- 1381404
- Journal Information:
- ACS Catalysis, Journal Name: ACS Catalysis Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 2; ISSN 2155-5435
- Publisher:
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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