Synthesis of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural from sucrose with acidic ionic liquids as the catalysts

The synthesis of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural was studied using sucrose as raw material and ionic liquids as the catalysts. The ionic liquids including N-methyl-2-pyrrolidonium methyl sulfonate and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidonium hydrogen sulfate was synthesized and characterized, and the catalytic dehydration of sucrose by these ionic liquids was investigated. The results indicated that N-methyl-2-pyrrolidonium methyl sulfonate exhibited better catalytic properties and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural yield of 48.2% was obtained under the condition as follows:reaction time 60 min, reaction temperature 85℃, N_2 atmosphere, N-methyl-2-pyrrolidonium methyl sulfonate dosage 10.0% (mole fraction) of sucrose and N, N-dimethylformamide-lithium bromide(DMF-LiBr) as the solvent.