Highly efficient formic acid-mediated oxidation of renewable furfural to maleic acid with H2O2Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c6gc03020c

• Main Authors: Li, Xiukai, Ho, Ben, Lim, Diane S. W, Zhang, Yugen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 21.02.2017
• ISSN: 1463-9262; 1463-9270
• DOI: 10.1039/c6gc03020c

Maleic acid and its anhydride are important intermediates in the chemical industry produced on a multimillion tonne-scale annually. The synthesis of maleic acid/anhydride from renewable biomass resources such as furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural is highly desirable for the sustainability of human society. Most of the previously reported processes for maleic acid/anhydride synthesis from biomass suffer from low efficiency, complicated conditions and poor catalyst recyclability. Herein, we demonstrate a highly efficient and simple system for the synthesis of maleic acid from furfural. An excellent yield (95%) of maleic acid was achieved under mild conditions in this very simple system which requires only H 2 O 2 as an oxidant in formic acid solvent. Under similar conditions, an 89% yield of maleic acid was achieved from biomass-derived 5-hydroxymethylfurfural. This study presents a novel synthetic method and a promising process for maleic acid production from renewable biomass resources. Maleic acid is produced from biomass-derived furfural or 5-hydroxymethylfurfural under metal catalyst-free conditions employing H 2 O 2 as an oxidant in formic acid.