Etherification of hydroxymethylfurfural with ethanol on mesoporous silica catalysts of regulated acidity to obtain ethoxymethylfurfural, a bio-additive for diesel

TONUTTI, L.G.; DALLA COSTA, B.O.; MENDOW, G.; PESTANA, G.L.; VEIZAGA, N.S.; GRAU, J.M.

MICROPOROUS AND MESOPOROUS MATERIALS

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Año: 2022 vol. 343

1387-1811

5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural (HMF) obtained from biomass can be etherified with ethanol to 5 (ethoxymethyl) furfural (EMF), a promissory bio-additive for diesel, employing solids with suitable acidity and porous structure as catalysts. The performance of MCM-41 and SBA-15, with different amount of sulfonic acid sites (-SO3H), was compared at 140 ◦C in a batch stirred reactor. 10 g L− 1 of SBA-15 with a 0.054 S/Si molar ratio gave HMF conversion of 94.6% and EMF yield of 76.5% after 3 h of reaction from a 15 g L− 1 of HMF/ethanol. The catalyst preserved its activity over 4 reaction cycles; reaching HMF conversion of 78.0% and EMF yield of 68.7%. From 90 g L− 1 of HMF/ethanol and 20 g L− 1 of catalyst achieve a HMF conversion of 94.3% and an EMF yield of 89.3% in 1.5 h of reaction (rate of 69.1 g L− 1 h− 1). A scale-up of production to a continuous reactor could be considered.