New insights into the transformation of carbohydrates into platform chemicals

The synthesis of furanic compounds from carbohydrates has become exciting in chemistry and in catalysis studies, because it represents one of the major routes for achieving sustainable energy supply and chemicals production.1 In particular, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) and 2-furfural (2-F) occupy a pivotal place and are recognised as versatile and multi-functional starting points for the synthesis of a panel of precursors. Microwaves have readily appeared as a powerfull technique for accelerating reaction rates and increasing selectivities in the field of carbohydrate chemistry.3 In particular, their involvment in combination with heterogeneous catalysts have opened new vistas in the production of bio-oxygenated platform chemicals. The state of the art and main outlook of this strategy are reported here.