RT Journal Article T1 Production of Biofuels by 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural Etherification Using Ion-Exchange Resins as Solid Acid Catalysts A1 Torres-Olea, Benjamín A1 Fúnez Núñez, Inmaculada A1 García-Sancho, Cristina A1 Cecilia-Buenestado, Juan Antonio A1 Moreno-Tost, Ramón A1 Maireles-Torres, Pedro Jesús K1 Catálisis K1 Catalizadores K1 Energía de biomasa AB In this work, acidic ion-exchange resins with strong Brönsted sulphonic groups were assessed in the catalytic etherification of the platform molecule 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural (HMF) to 5-(ethoxymethyl)furfural (EMF), a biofuel with an energy density close to that of gasoline (30 MJ/L) which also reduces emissions of NOx and SOx and solid particles respect to fossil-derived fuels. Catalytic performance was optimized modifying experimental parameters such as reaction time, temperature, and concentration of reagent employed. This process was carried out in batch reactors using ethanol 96% as solvent. Among different cation-exchange resins tested, Purolite CT275DR provided the fastest HMF conversion together with Purolite PD206, and the highest selectivity to EMF, achieving above 70% selectivity at 100 °C. Over time, strong acid sites favoured product hydrolysis opening the furan ring originating ethyl levulinate (EL) to the detriment of EMF selectivity. Purolite CT275DR was also utilised to realize the transformation from sugars directly to EMF in the same reaction medium, in a one-pot process, obtaining relevant results from fructose (37% HMF yield, 21% EMF yield after 5 h), but originating selectively ethylglucosides and ethylgalactosides in the presence of glucose and galactose, respectively, due to the absence of necessary Lewis acid sites to isomerize aldose and proceed with dehydration. PB mdpi YR 2020 FD 2020-11-09 LK https://hdl.handle.net/10630/25022 UL https://hdl.handle.net/10630/25022 LA eng NO Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (RTI2018-94918-B-C44), FEDER (European Union) funds (UMA18-FEDERJA-171) and Malaga University DS RIUMA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Málaga RD 20 ene 2026