Iron oxide encapsulated by ruthenium hydroxyapatite as heterogeneous catalyst for the synthesis of 2,5-diformylfuran.

Magnetic γ-Fe2 O3 nanocrystallites encapsulated by hydroxyapatite (HAP), HAP@γ-Fe2 O3 , were prepared followed by cation exchange of Ca(2+) on the external HAP surface with Ru(3+) to give the γ-Fe2 O3 @HAP-Ru catalyst. The structure of the as-prepared catalyst was characterized, and its catalytic activity was studied in the aerobic oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). γ-Fe2 O3 @HAP-Ru showed a high catalytic activity for the aerobic oxidation of HMF into 2,5-diformylfuran (DFF). A high DFF yield of 89.1 % with an HMF conversion of 100% was obtained after 4 h at 90 °C. Importantly, the synthesis of DFF from fructose was realized by two consecutive steps. The dehydration of fructose in the presence of a magnetic acid catalyst (Fe3 O4 @SiO2-SO3 H) produced HMF in a yield of 90.1%. Then the Fe3 O4 @SiO2 SO3 H catalyst was removed from the reaction solution with a permanent magnet, and HMF in the resulting solution was further oxidized to DFF with a yield of 79.1% based on fructose. The synthesis of DFF from fructose by two steps avoids the tedious separation of the intermediate HMF, which saves time and energy.