In-situ chemobiocatalytic conversion of glucose into 2,5-bis(hydroxymethyl)furan by AlCl3/Enterobacter cloacae in biocompatible DMSO-water solvent

Abstract

In-situ chemobiocatalytic production of 2,5-bis(hydroxymethyl)furan (BHMF) from glucose is extremely desirable but challenging owing to the incompatibility issues between two worlds of catalysts. In this study, a robust strain Enterobacter cloacae HA188, which is tolerant to 20% (v/v) DMSO, was used in the direct conversion of glucose into BHMF. The dehydration of glucose into 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) was catalyzed by AlCl₃ in DMSO at 130 °C for 0.5 h, then water and E. cloacae cells were added and the bio-reduction of HMF was directly performed in 20% (v/v) DMSO at 30 °C for 6 h. Under the optimized conditions, 1000 mM glucose was transformed into HMF at 51.1% yield, which was further converted into BHMF with an overall yield of 47.2%. The BHMF yield was further improved when fructose or sucrose were utilized. This work provided a sustainable way for the production of value-added BHMF from inexpensive glucose under benign conditions.