It
is challenging to effectively convert 5-hydroxymethylfurfural
(HMF) to 2,5-diformylfuran (DFF), a flexible biobased building-block,
over non-noble metal catalysts. In this contribution, Mn–Fe
oxides were prepared and served as highly active catalysts for the
selective oxidation of HMF to DFF. Among Mn–Fe oxides with
varied Mn–Fe molar ratios, Mn6Fe1O
x
showed the best catalytic activity and offered
HMF conversion up to 97% with a DFF selectivity of 98% (110 °C,
5 h, and 1.5 MPa O2). It is revealed that the introduction
of α-Fe2O3 resulted in significant enhancement
in the amount of catalytic active sites (Mn4+–O2– pairs) and their activity in Mn6Fe1O
x
for the dehydrogenation of
HMF to DFF. Mn6Fe1O
x
also was a robust catalyst that could be successively used at least
six times without substantial loss in its catalytic activity. Furthermore,
a facile two-step process for the conversion of fructose to DFF with
a yield up to 80% was developed by the integration of dehydration
and oxidation over Amberlyst-15 and Mn6Fe1O
x
, respectively.
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