Mesoporous Ti-Mo Mixed Oxides Catalyzed Transformation of Carbohydrates into 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural

Mesoporous Ti-Mo mixed oxides were prepared via a facile approach using stearic acid as the template, and were characterized using XRD FT-IR, nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherm and TEM techniques. The catalytic activity of the prepared mesoporous Ti-Mo mixed oxides was first evaluated for the dehydration of fructose to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), and a 50.3% yield of HMF was obtained within 60 min at 120 degrees C. Moreover, moderate yields of HMF could also be achieved from glucose and sucrose. The mesoporous catalyst could be simply separated from the reaction mixture after termination of the reaction and reused five times with no significant loss of catalytic activity.