Abstract
Self-assembled mesoporous TiO2 nanoparticulate material with well-defined nanospherical morphologies was prepared by using DL-aspartic acid as a template. Powder XRD, TEM and SEM techniques were used to characterize the TiO2 nanoparticles. The presence of high acid density in the mesoporous TiO2 was confirmed by pyridine-IR and NH3-TPD studies. This new mesoporous TiO2 nanomaterial efficiently catalyzed the dehydration of D-fructose and D-glucose into 5-hydroxymethylfurfural in DMA-LiCl solvent under microwave assisted heating. The acidic sites of the TiO2 nanomaterial were responsible for the dehydration reaction which produced a maximum 82.3% HMF.