February 2011, Volume 2, No.

1
International Journal of Chemical and Environmental Engineering

The Study of Hydroxymethylfurfural as a Basic

Reagent for Liquid Alkanes Fuel Manufacture
from Agricultural Wastes
Kambiz Tahvildari, a Saeed Taghvaei ,a Maryam Nozari *a
a
Department of Chemistry, Islamic Azad University, North Tehran branch, Tehran, Iran
*Corresponding author: m_nouzari@yahoo.com

Abstract
Renewable biomass resources have the potential to serve as a sustainable supply of fuels and chemical intermediates. The spent-
biomass residues will contain fragments from lignin, residual carbohydrates and other organic matter. Two of these biomass residues
are the molasses and bagasse of sugar cane which have several carbohydrates compounds in them.
This paper discusses the relative advantages of different process options to convert carbohydrates to 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde
(HMF), a valuable intermediate for fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals and furan-based polymers.
A great variety of acid catalysts has been used in this process, such as mineral acids, Lewis acids, strong acid cation-exchange resins,
H-form zeolites and supported heteropolyacids. Several reaction media have been adopted, such as the more convenient water, but
also anhydrous organic solvents, ionic liquids and recently biphasic water/organic co-solvent systems.
Keywords: 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde, Carbohydrates, Acid catalysis, Fuels
1. Introduction use in food chemistry, find new applications as source of
We are entering an era of diminishing the availability green chemistry for the production of chemicals [20].
of petrochemical resources to produce energy and One of the interesting reactions of carbohydrates is
chemical materials which represent the basis for the acid catalyzed triple dehydration of C6-sugar monomers
synthesis of many useful products. Being concerned about to produce HMF [3-9].
the green house effect and future re-arrangement of the HMF (1) is a versatile intermediate between biomass-
economy from petroleum to biological raw materials have based carbohydrates chemistry and petroleum-based
resulted in using fuels from renewable resources. industrial organic chemistry, (2) and its derivatives could
Abundant biomass resources can provide alternative potentially replace voluminously consumed petroleum-
routes for a sustainable supply of both transportation fuels based building blocks, (3) is currently used to make
and valuable intermediates (such as alcohols, aldehydes, plastics and fine chemicals [21].
ketones and carboxylic acids) for production of drugs and
polymer materials [1, 19]. 2. The History of HMF
From the estimated annual production of biomass by In 1985, Dul and Kiermeyer while working
biosynthesis about 75% are carbohydrates (mainly in the independently, published a method for synthesis and
form of cellulose, starch and saccharose), 20% are lignin chemical reaction of the compounds which they called
and only 5% are compounds of completely different ''Oxymethyl Furfural" [22]. Several years later, other
structure, for example, fats, oils, protein and various other authors published their results. They worked out the
substances [2]. Therefore, attention should be focused on modern method of HMF synthesis and studied the
efficient access to carbohydrates and their conversion to mechanism of its formation. Till now, over 1000 papers
chemical materials. Carbohydrates are readily available, have been published, which is a proof for the great
relatively inexpensive and renewable, and they are importance of this kind of compounds [22].
precursor chemicals for the synthesis of a large number of
substances such as furfural and 5-hydroxymethyl-2- 3. Aspect of Synthesis of HMF
furaldehyde (HMF), levulinic acid, etc. via established The synthesis of HMF is based on the triple
chemical methods. dehydration of C6-sugar monomers in acidic moieties. By
The high content of oxygenated functional groups in looking at the scheme of producing HMF, one could have
carbohydrates is an advantage, in contrast to the drawback an impression that the synthesis of HMF is simple
of such functionality, for the conversion of carbohydrates (Scheme 1). But after dehydration, complications can
to fuels [3-19]. Indeed, carbohydrates in addition to their arise, such as the rehydrating of HMF, which often yield
 the by-products levulinic acid and formic acid. Another
competing side-reaction is the polymerization of HMF
and/or Fructose to form humin polymers [23].
Scheme 1. Conversion of hexoses to HMF
As HMF has many functional groups (It is
simultaneously a primary aromatic alcohol, an aromatic
aldehyde and has a furan ring system), it can be used as a
precursor to diesel fuel, fuel additives, fine chemicals and
plant protect agents [4, 23, 24]. For example, HMF can be
converted to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) by
selective oxidation. FDCA can be used as a replacement
of terephthalic acid in the production of polyesters such as
polyethyleneterephthalate (PET) and polybutyleneterephthalate
(PBT). HMF is also currently under investigation as a
treatment for sickle cell anomia [25].
HMF is itself a rather unstable molecule. It can be
found in natural products such as honey and a variety of
heat processed food products formed in the thermal
decomposition of carbohydrates [26]. It is also important
that HMF show a weak cytotoxicity and mutagenicity in
human [27]. The production of HMF has been studied for
years, but an efficient method which is cost-effective and
can produce HMF in high yields has yet to be found.
Several extensive reviews are describing the chemistry of
HMF and its derivatives. Moreau et al. [4] described the
recent catalytic advances in substituted furans from
biomass and focused especially on the ensuring polymers
and their properties. A review by Lewkowski [22] on the
chemistry of HMF and derivatives also appeared recently.
The other relevant reviews are from Cottier and Descotes
[28], and Kuster [5]. The mechanism for the dehydration
of fructose to HMF has been interpreted to proceed via
two different routes, either via acyclic compounds or
cyclic compounds [22]. Antal proved experimentally that
the mechanism of the HMF formation went through
cyclic intermediates [22].
4. Feed Stocks
The synthesis of HMF is based on the dehydration C6-
sugar monomers mainly glucose and fructose. This is
partly because fructose has been shown to be more
amenable to the dehydration reaction [29]. Early
processes for the production of HMF used crystalline
fructose, but its usage is prevented because of its high
cost. Depending on the method which is used, the feed
stocks can be hexoses other than glucose and fructose
(such as mannose, galactose), as well as other mono- di-,
oligo- and poly-saccharides (such as sucrose, inulin, etc.)
63
and lignocellulosic material (such as cellulose, xylan,
hemi-cellulose, etc.) [24]. Other mixed carbohydrate
sources include crude fructose, purified fructose, high
fructose corn syrup intermediates and by-products but are
not limited to them [24]. Sugarcane bagasse, as a by-
product of the sugar industry, is an abundant source of
hemicelluloses that can be hydrolyzed to yield
fermentation feed stock for the production of chemicals
[30]. The production of carbohydrates from
lignocellulosic biomass is technically performed using
diluted acids at high temperature [31, 32], concentrated
acids at low temperatures [33] or using biotechnological
methods such as enzyme or micro organism [34]. So the
monosaccharides which are released during this process
can be used as carbohydrate sources. The other feed stock
which is from the converted industrial wastes is the
molasses of sugar cane or sugar beet which has
approximately 30%-50% sucrose. The usual sources for
sucrose are the juice of sugar cane, sugar beet and other
sucrose-containing materials. After the readily
recoverable sucrose has been extracted from these
sources, the mother liquors which are generally termed
"molasses" will still contain a relatively large amount of
sucrose along with other sugars such as glucose, fructose,
raffinose, etc. So it is highly desirable to use sucrose for
producing HMF [35].
5. Catalysts
The first synthesis of HMF was catalyzed by oxalic
acid and till now 100 inorganic and organic compounds
were used for producing HMF [22]. Several mineral
acids, such as HCl, H2SO4 and H3PO4 have been
employed as homogeneous catalyzed dehydration of
fructose to HMF [7, 26, 36-38]. Organic acids such as
oxalic acid, levulinic acid and maleic acid can be used,
too. These acid catalysts are utilized in dissolved form, so
it causes difficulties in their regeneration, reuse and their
disposal [29]. Acid catalysts may also promote a
subsequent rehydration reaction of HMF, thus causing
carbon-carbon bond cleavage on the aldehyde to yield
levulinic acid and formic acid [5]. Moreover, in acidic
media, oligomerization of fructose and/or HMF may
occur, leading to both insoluble humins and soluble
polymeric by-products. Indeed, in homogeneous acid
catalyzed processes, too low selectivities (30%-50%)
towards HMF were observed at a quite high substrate
conversion (50%-70%) owing to the degradation to
levulinic acid and formic acid [26].
In order to avoid these problems, reusable or
recyclable catalysts are preferred for use in the reaction as
they provide for increased efficiency, economic and
industrial feasibility. Examples of these kinds of catalysts
include solid acid catalysts, ion exchange resins, zeolites,
Lewis acids, clays and molecular sieves but are not
limited to them [29].
Solid acid catalysts often comprise a solid material
which has been functionalized to influence acid groups
that are catalytically active. Sulfated zirconia used as an
 effective solid catalyst for conversion of fructose to
HMF in non-aqueous solutions such as acetone-DMSO
mixture. In this mixture, a high fructose conversion of
93.6% with HMF yield of 72.8% could be obtained [39].
The use of solid phase catalysts in a chromatography
column to synthesis and purity of HMF limited exposure
time to heat and enabled synthesis at a lower temperature.
Lower temperature resulted in reducing energy cost and
time for heating and cooling the reaction. Another
advantage is the ability of the reaction to proceed and
separate the product from the unwanted side-products.
Studies concerning the application of ion-exchanging
resin for the synthesis of HMF are numerous. Nakamura
obtained HMF in 80% yield using strongly acidic ion-
exchange resin [9]. Other researchers used different ion
exchange resin and Mercudier, Rigal, El-Hajj and Rapp
could produce HMF in high yield [22, 40].
Highly acidic cation-exchange resins such as those
derivatives with sulfonic acid groups are also effective
catalysts, providing the acidity of mineral acids together
with the advantages of the heterogeneous catalysts [41].
Ion exchange catalysts limit the reaction temperature to
under 130 0C; however, this temperature range seems to
be sufficient to overcome the activation energy barriers
[29].
The use of inorganic salts for the synthesis of HMF
was the subject of numerous studies. For example,
ammonium phosphates (the yield 32%),
triethylaminephosphate (36%), pyridiniumphosphate
(44%), zirconiumphosphate and zirconyl chloride
improve the yield up to 90%. Ammonium sulphate,
chromium trichloride or zinc chloride were used, too [22].
Fayet and Gelas utilized various pyridinium salts such as
poly-4-vinylpyridinium hydrochloride, pyridinium
trifluoroacetate, hydrochloride, hydrobromide,
perbromate and p-toluene sulfonate. Starting from
fructose, they obtained HMF in 70% average yield [22].
Metals such as Zn, Al, Cr, Ti, Th, Zr and V can be
used as ions, salts or complexes as catalysts. Such use has
not brought about improved results and yields of HMF
have continued to be low [29].
Szmant and Chundry used BF3 ET2O catalyst with
DMSO as a solvent in the conversion of high-fructose
corn syrup (HFCS), but it is not economically practical
since it cannot be recovered and reused [29].
The procedure for obtaining HMF from carbohydrate
resources in the presence of niobium-based catalysts and
niobic acid (Nb2O5 .nH2O) has been reported to have an
intermediate selectivity of about 30% for 80% conversion
of fructose. Niobium pentoxide and niobium phosphate
are known to display quite high Brønsted acid strength,
while no levulinic and formic acids were obtained as well
[42, 43].
The dehydration of fructose can be achieved using
metal halides such as FeCl2, CrCl2, CrCl3, FeCl3, CuCl2,
CuCl2, VCl3, MoCl3, PdCl2, PtCl2, PtCl4, RuCl3 or RhCl3
and HMF yields ranging from 63% to 83%. Not all of the
metal halides were effective, for example the alkali
64
chloride, LaCl3 and MnCl2 did not work [21]. Zhang and
co-workers have reported a metal chloride/ionic liquid
system that gives good HMF yields for both fructose
(83% with Pt or Rh chloride, 65% with CrCl2) and
glucose (68% with CrCl2) [21].
NHC/metal (NHC=N-Heterocyclic Carbene)
complexes as catalyst for sugar dehydration reaction was
used [44]. Glucose might be converted into fructose first
and subsequent into HMF over the NHC/Cr catalyst. In
this case the fructose concentration would be relatively
low even when the glucose substrate loading was high
since fructose would merely be an intermediate in the
conversion of glucose into HMF [45]. The NHC/Cr
catalysts were also tested in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO)
as the solvent and lower HMF yields were obtained both
from fructose (28%-52%) and glucose (25%-32%).
Catalysts with bulky NHC ligands showed higher
efficiency in the DMSO system.
NHC/Cr ionic liquid system has been used for the
selective conversion of sugar into HMF and HMF yields
were as high as 96% and 81% for fructose and glucose
respectively [45]. The new system is tolerant towards
high substrate loading and the catalyst and ionic liquid
can be recycled and HMF is provided as the sole product
isolated after simple extraction [45].
6. Types of Solvents for Converting
Carbohydrates to HMF
The types of solvents and their influence on the
efficiency of the dehydration reaction are closely
connected with temperature conditions. Cottier divided
methods into 5 groups depending on the types of solvents
and the temperature of the process [22]:
- Aqueous processes carried out at temperature below
200 0C
- Aqueous processes carried out at temperature over
200 0C
- Processes in non-aqueous medium
- Processes in mixed solvents
- Processes without solvent and microwave processes
The dehydration of fructose to form HMF has been
conducted in water [12, 14, 15], organic solvents [9],
organic/water mixtures [19], ionic liquids [12, 21] and
more recently, biphasic water /organic systems [19, 46].
The use of water as a solvent does increase the solubility
of fructose in the solvent phase, but it also promotes side-
reactions such as humin formation and HMF
decomposition to acids (HMF yields <20%) [29, 46, 47].
In pure water, glucose dehydration to HMF is non-
selective (about 6%) leading to formation of insoluble
humins, too [47].
Furthermore, solvation of protons in water highly
reduces the catalytic activity of the dehydration reaction,
and simultaneously leads to increased polymerization
reactions and humin formation which also interfere with
the synthesis of HMF [29]. Fructose and by-products
seem to be more pronounced in an aqueous reaction
 medium than an organic one [26].
In an attempt to solve such a problem associated with
aqueous systems, one proposed solution involves an
improvement by simultaneously extracting HMF after the
dehydration reaction. A similar attempt to improve yields
involves the adsorption of HMF on activated carbon. The
key factor in these processes is a rapid removal of HMF
from the acidic medium in which it is formed. However,
these systems generally suffer from high dilution or
partially irreversible adsorption of HMF [45].
Another attempt to solve the problems of aqueous
systems is adding an organic solvent to the aqueous
solution.
7. Modified Aqueous Media and Non-aqueous
Organic Solvents
Polar organic solvents that are miscible with water are
added in order to increase the rate of reaction. Commonly
employed aqueous phase modifiers are acetone,
dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and polyethylene glycol
(PEG) [24-26, 48].
Fructose has a good solubility in DMSO and HMF
yields of 90% can be obtained in pure DMSO solvent.
DMSO can prevent the formation of by-products, but the
corresponding question of product separation from
DMSO must be raised because of the high boiling point
of DMSO [46, 47].
The reactive nature of pure HMF at high temperature
leads to substantial carbonization of the isolated product
upon distilling HMF from DMSO [46], so vacuum
distillation is necessary to separate HMF from DMSO
[46], on the other hand, DMSO is environmentally
questionable [29].
Acetone has quite low boiling point, so solvent
recovery via distillation is easily achieved, and no solid
by-products are formed in the organic solvent [49], but
unfortunately, the solubility of fructose in pure acetone is
negligible (0.5 g/L at 25 0C) and thus, either water or
another solvent is needed to allow conversion at a
practical scale [47]. A 70:30 (w/w) acetone/water reaction
medium resulted in yield of HMF as high as 73.4% for
94% conversion in the presence of a strong cation-
exchange resin as the catalyst under microwave heating
[47].
Acetone/DMSO mixtures can be effectively suppress
the formation of levulinic acid, so that the HMF yield
increases, and compared with acetone/water, it has lower
activation (HMF yield of 89.8% and selectivity of 91.7%
for fructose) [47].
A study of Antal and co-workers suggested that HMF
is formed by dehydration of D-fructose from its furanose
form [50]; therefore, higher furanoid form concentration
of D-fructose in acetone/DMSO mixtures might be the
reason for the lower activation compared with
acetone/water mixtures [47].
Non-aqueous solvents require high dilution system;
owing to the hydrophilic character of reagents. Various
solvents were tested; Bonner and Shur et al. carried out
65
the reaction in DMF, Brown in acetonitrile, Morikawa
proposed the application of quinoline, and Smith and
Moye performed the reaction in polyglycol ethers [22].
Problems concerning the solubility of hexoses in
organic solvents were resolved by the application of
mixed-solvent (water-organic) systems [22]. Atlas
Powder Co. laboratories and Kuster tested polyethylene
glycols [22]. High selectivity has also been obtained when
using PEG-600 as a solvent together with the catalytic
HCl [26]. This method allowed a decrease in the degree
of HMF degradation to levulinic acid [22].
Solvents including aprotic polar solvents are preferred
because they are miscible with water which helps with the
solubility of fructose. In a further attempt to provide an
adequate solvent system, aqueous solvent mixtures and
anhydrous organic solvents have also been employed to
ensure favorable reaction conditions [46].
Examples of anhydrous organic solvents used include
dimethylformamide (DMF), acetonitrile,
dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and polyethylene glycol
(PEG) [46].
The addition of the aprotic solvent N-methyl
pyrolidinone (NMP) to the aqueous-phase in the biphasic
system increases the selectivity to HMF similar to the
effect of DMSO. Importantly, replacing NMP with poly
(1-vinyl-2-pyrrolidinone) (PVP), a hydrophilic polymer
that has NMP moieties along the polyethylene chain,
retains the advantage of increased selectivity, but
significantly reduces carryover into the organic phase
[19].
8. Sub- and Supercritical Solvents
Since the best results for the dehydration of hexoses
have been in high-boiling organic solvents, the use of low
boiling solvents in their sub- or supercritical state would
be an interesting alternative [26].
When glucose is dehydrated in pure subcritical water,
HMF has greater selectivity than when using sulfuric acid
or sodium hydroxide as a catalyst under the same pressure
and temperatures [26].
Yields of up to 50% were obtained when using
fructose as the starting sugar and different zirconium
phosphates as catalysts in subcritical water. No
rehydration products were observed, yet the highest
selectivity was not more than 61% and by-products were
humins and furaldehyde [18].
The overall results from sub- and supercritical water
have so far been unsatisfactory in terms of yield.
Bicker et al. examined the dehydration of fructose to
HMF in sub- and supercritical acetone/water mixtures and
obtained the results that both HMF selectivity and the
fructose conversion increased with decreasing water
content and the optimal selectivity was 77% with 99%
fructose conversion [47].
 9. Ionic Liquids
Another attractive alternative to high-boiling organic
solvents is the use of ionic liquids [26]. Their unique
physical properties such as negligible vapor pressure and
non-flammability make them particularly suitable as
solvents for large-scale production [26].
Biomass can be depolymerized in ionic liquids at
considerably lower temperature than in comparable
processes that use water as the medium [51, 52]. The first
dehydration of fructose and glucose with the help of ionic
liquids was done in the presence of pyridinium chloride to
HMF in high purity with 70% yield for glucose [26].
Zhao et al. studied the catalytic conversion of fructose
to HMF in 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride
([AMIM] Cl), with metal halides such as chromium (II)
chloride as catalyst, achieving 73% yield of HMF [21,
47].
The yields of HMF were found to be closely
dependent on the acidity type of the ionic liquids, the
concentration of the ionic liquids and the reaction
temperature and time [53].
Acid catalyzed dehydration of fructose was performed
using two commercially available ionic liquids, a
hydrophilic one; 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium
tetrafluoroborate (BMIM+ BF4-) as a solvent and
Amberlyte-15 as catalyst which HMF yields up to 50%
and a hydrophobic one; 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium
hexafluorophosphate (BMIM+ PF6-) with Amberlyst-15 as
catalyst and DMSO to solubilize fructose in the
hydrophobic ionic liquid which HMF yields close to 80%
[4, 53].
In another attempt the dehydration of fructose and
sucrose in the presence of Brønsted acidic ionic liquid 1-
H-3-methylimidazolium chloride (HMIM+ Cl -) achieved
in high yields HMF (92% for fructose) at relatively low
temperature and short reaction time [45, 54, 55].
Preparation of HMF in the presence of the Brønsted
acidic ionic liquid, 3-allyl-1-(4-sulfobutyl) imidazolium
trifluoromethanesulfonate as well as its Lewis acid
derivative, 3-allyl -1-(4-sulforylchloride butyl)
imidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate, concluded that
the type of acidic ionic liquid used played a significant
role in the reaction and the Lewis acidic ionic liquids act
more effectively. So it shows that the Lewis acidic ionic
liquid was a better reaction medium than the Brønsted
acidic ionic liquid [53].
It was demonstrated that when these acidic ionic
liquids were immobilized on silica gel, they can be used
as effective and reusable solid catalysts for the
dehydration reaction to convert fructose to HMF [53].
10. Biphasic System With an Organic Extraction
Solvent
A biphasic reaction medium comprises of an aqueous
reaction solution and the substantially immiscible organic
extraction solution in which the aqueous reaction
solution, the organic extraction solution or both of them
66
contain at least one modifier to improve selectivity of the
process to yield furan derivative compounds in general
and HMF in particular [46, 56].
In these systems, the fructose dehydrated in aqueous
medium and the water immiscible organic solvent is
added to extract continuously the HMF from the aqueous
phase, so the reaction is separated from the reactant and
reaction intermediates and is thereby protected against
degradation reaction; however, most extracting solvents
used show poor partitioning of HMF into the organic
phase, necessitating large amount of solvent and hence
large energy expenditures to purify the diluted HMF
product [46, 56].
Roman-Leskov et al. studied acid catalyzed fructose
dehydration in a two-phase reactor system, where fructose
was dehydrated in the aqueous phase with DMSO and
poly (1-vinyl-2-pyrrolidinone) (PVP). The HMF was
continuously extracted into an organic phase
(methylisobutylketone) modified with 2-butanol to
enhance partitioning from the reactive aqueous solution.
A maximum selectivity of 85% with 89% fructose
conversion was obtained. In these systems, feed solutions
consisting of mixed fractions such as hemicelluloses and
cellulose can be effectively handled without component
separation [29].
Recently, Dumesic and co-workers invented a
biphasic system in which the aqueous phase layer
comprises of water and one or more aqueous phase
modifiers which are selected from water-miscible
inorganic salts selected from the groups consisting of
halides, sulfates, sulfides, phosphates, nitrates, acetates,
carbonates and ionic liquids; and/or dipolar, aprotic
compounds such as sulfoxides (e.g., DMSO), amides
(e.g., dimethylformamide), pyrrolidinones (e.g., NMP),
nitriles, pyrones, lactones, water-miscible alcohols or
ketones and dioxane, and water-soluble polymers such as
PVP and PEG [24, 25].
In this system, the preferred extractive organic
solvents are 1-butanol, MIBK, and dichloromethane
(DCM). Other organic phases, especially other alcohols,
ketones and halogenated alkanes may also be utilized.
Nitriles, aliphatic and cycloaliphatic ethers,
cycloalkanones, saturated and unsaturated aliphatic or
aromatic hydrocarbons (decane, toluene, benzene),
oxygenated hydrocarbons and nitroalkanes may be used
as well. The organic phase modifiers are selected from the
group consisting of C1 to C8 aliphatic alcohols, and the
most preferred is 2-butanol [24, 25]. In the preferred
embodiment using 1-butanole or MIBK as the extracting
solvent, an acid catalyst should be used, such as HCl,
H2SO4, HNO3, etc.
By using this modified biphasic reaction in the reactor
system, high conversion of fructose with high yields of
HMF can be obtained (in one preferred experiment 83%
HMF selectivity with 83% conversion).
 11. Conclusion
Renewable biomass resources have the potential to
serve as a sustainable supply of fuels and chemical
intermediates. One of these important intermediate is 5-
hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde (HMF), which obtained by
triple dehydration of C6-sugar solution, especially
fructose in acidic medium. Compared to fructose, glucose
is preferred feed source because it is more abundant and
has low cost, but the stable ring structure of glucose
leading to a lower fraction, so it has lower reaction rate.
A large variety of acid catalysts has been used in this
process, such as mineral acids, Lewis acids, strong acid
cation-exchange resins, H-form zeolites and supported
heteropolyacids. As in green chemistry, recycling of the
catalyst is very important, so heterogeneous catalysts
offered the advantage of a very easy separation from the
reaction products, thus appearing the most suitable
catalysts for potential industrial applications. Several
reaction media have been adopted as well, and many
methods have been used for production of HMF in
satisfactory yield with minimizing the by-products
formation. As an efficient method which is cost-effective
and can produce HMF in high yields has yet to be found,
so chemists keep on working to find easy and inexpensive
mode for producing HMF.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We would like to thank Dr. Jahanbakhsh Nikoopour
for his comments on the final draft of the article. His
editing comments both grammar and punctuated are well-
appreciated.
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