Efficient Etherification of 2,5-Bis(hydroxymethyl)furan to 2,5-Bis(propoxymethyl)furan by an Amorphous Silica-Alumina Catalyst in a Fixed-Bed Reactor.

The efficient etherification of 2,5-bis(hydroxymethyl)furan (BHMF) to 2,5-bis(propoxymethyl)furan (BPMF) was achieved by using low-cost amorphous silica-aluminas (ASA) catalysts in a fixed-bed reactor. A considerable yield of BPMF up to 85.1 % was obtained over ASA-30 catalyst under the reaction conditions of 140 °C, 2.0 MPa of N 2 , and 0.015 h -1 of WHSV. The excellent performance of ASA-30 catalyst could be attributed to the relatively stronger acidity (>375 °C) and larger mesoporous size (6 nm), thereby facilitating the conversion of BHMF to BPMF. In addition, the lower ratio of Brønsted/Lewis acid sites for ASA catalyst was found to efficiently suppress the occurrence of side reactions.