Polymer-supported N-heterocyclic carbene-iron(III) catalyst and its application to dehydration of fructose into 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfural.

Abstract: Polymer-supported NHC–metal catalysts were prepared from chloromethyl polystyrene resin via two-step reaction. Metals were loaded into 1.6 – 16mol% of total imidazolium and the remaining imidazolium chloride salt provided ionic liquid moiety. The formation of metal complex with the polymer-supported NHC ligand was analyzed by ATR FT-IR, XRD, and XPS. The synthesized polymer-supported NHC–metal catalysts were applied to the dehydration of fructose into HMF. The environmentally benign and inexpensive polymer-supported NHC–FeIII catalyst showed good catalytic activity and yielded HMF at 73% (with a conversion of 97%). It could also be reused without significant loss of catalytic activity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]