In recent years, 2,5-dihydroxymethylfuran (DHMF), which can be produced by the selective hydrogenation of biomass-derived 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), has attracted great attention and interest of many scientists because of its peculiar symmetrical structure and wide potential applications. At present, studies of the production of DHMF are quickly progressing, with productive approaches being increasingly developed, and many crucial achievements have been continually obtained. However, to date, a special and real-time review of this research area is still lacking. To gain more insight into the current research situation, this review comprehensively summarizes and discusses state-of-the-art advancements of the production of DHMF from HMF via various chemocatalytic pathways, such as conventional hydrogenation, transfer hydrogenation, electrocatalytic hydrogenation, photocatalytic hydrogenation, disproportionation reaction, and biocatalytic pathways. Meanwhile, this review also systematically outlines the latest results on the further transformation of DHMF into value-added derivatives via etherification, polymerization, and rearrangement.

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Phenol-formaldehyde (PF) resin is a high performance adhesive, but has not been widely developed due to its slow curing rate and high curing temperature. To accelerate the curing rate and to lower the curing temperature of PF resin, four types of metal-mediated catalysts were employed in the synthesis of PF resin; namely, barium hydroxide (Ba(OH) 2 ), sodium carbonate (Na 2 CO 3 ), lithium hydroxide (LiOH), and zinc acetate ((CH 3 COO) 2 Zn). The cure-acceleration effects of these catalysts on the properties of PF resins were measured, and the chemical structures of the PF resins accelerated with the catalysts were investigated by using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and quantitative liquid carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance ( 13 C NMR). The results showed that the accelerated efficiency of these catalysts to PF resin could be ordered in the following sequence: Na 2 CO 3 > (CH 3 COO) 2 Zn > Ba(OH) 2 > LiOH. The catalysts (CH 3 COO) 2 Zn and Na 2 CO 3 increased the reaction activity of the phenol ortho position and the condensation reaction of ortho methylol. The accelerating mechanism of (CH 3 COO) 2 Zn on PF resin is probably different from that of Na 2 CO 3 , which can be confirmed by the differences in the differential thermogravimetric (DTG) curve and thermogravimetric (TG) data. Compared to the Na 2 CO 3 -accelerated PF resin, the (CH 3 COO) 2 Zn-accelerated PF resin showed different peaks in the DTG curve and higher weight residues. In the synthesis process, the catalyst (CH 3 COO) 2 Zn may form chelating compounds (containing a metal-ligand bond), which can promote the linkage of formaldehyde to the phenolic hydroxyl ortho position.

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