Immobilizing Cr3+ with SO3H-functionalized solid polymeric ionic liquids as efficient and reusable catalysts for selective transformation of carbohydrates into 5-hydroxymethylfurfural.

A series of functional polymeric ionic liquids (FPILs) were prepared by coupling of SO3H-functionalized polymeric ionic liquids with different counterpart anions containing or excluding CrCl3·6H2O, and characterized by SEM, FT-IR, XRD, NH3-TPD, TG, melting point, ICP-AES, and TEM. The catalytic activity of the prepared solid FPILs was investigated for the conversion of biomass including fructose, glucose and cellulose into 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) with the presence of DMSO-mediated solvents, successively producing moderate to excellent yields of HMF under atmospheric pressure. The FPILs catalysts developed in this study present improved performance on fructose-to-HMF conversion over other solid catalysts, such as functional ionic liquids supported by silica, metal oxides and strong acid ion exchange resin catalysts, and can be very easily recycled at least five times without significant loss of activity. In addition, a kinetic analysis was carried out to illustrate the formation of HMF.