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The key challenges for converting chitin to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) include the low 5-HMF yield. Moreover, the disadvantages of traditional acid-base catalysts including complex post-treatment processes, the production of by-products, and severe equipment corrosion also largely limit the large-scale conversion of chitin to 5-HMF. In this view, herein we have demonstrated a microwave aided efficient and green conversion of chitin to 5-HMF while using polyoxometalate (POM) as a catalyst and DMSO/water as solvent. Chitin treated with H 2 SO 4 followed by ball-milling (chitin-H 2 SO 4 -BM) was selected as the starting compound for the conversion process. Four different POMs including H 3 [PW 12 O 40 ], H 3 [PMo 12 O 40 ], H 4 [SiW 12 O 40 ] and H 4 [SiMo 12 O 40 ] were used as catalysts. Various reaction parameters including reaction temperature, amount of catalyst, mass ratios of water/DMSO and reaction time have been investigated to optimize the 5-HMF conversion. The H 4 [SiW 12 O 40 ] catalyst exhibited the highest catalytic performance with 23.1% HMF yield at optimum operating conditions which is the highest among the literature for converting chitin to 5-HMF. Significantly, the disadvantages of the state of the art conversion routes described earlier can be overcome using POM-based catalysts, which makes the process more attractive to meet the ever-increasing energy demands, in addition to helping consume crustacean waste., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)