UC Davis

In a recent paper entitled "Efficient One-Pot Synthesis of 5-Chloromethyl-furfural (CMF) from Carbohydrates in Mild Biphasic Systems," published in Molecules [1], Gao and coworkers describe the use of a biphasic aq. HCl-H3PO4/CHCl3 reagent for the preparation of CMF from various feedstocks. The maximum yield (46.8%) was obtained from fructose by reaction at 45 °C for 20 h. While sucrose gave a similar yield, the same reaction with glucose and cellulose gave 7.3% and 7.8% yields, respectively. Remarkably, the same process applied to Kraft pulp and powdered wood samples gave between 16.0% and 31.4% CMF, based on sugar content. Looking to the Experimental section for insight into this unusual outcome, the statement, "the procedure of treating lignocellulose sample (Table 6) was almost the same as the carbohydrate, except adding the selected simple 1.0 mg each trial " [sic] appears, which is difficult to interpret.