A one-pot reaction for biorefinery: combination of solid acid and base catalysts for direct production of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural from saccharides.

5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), one of the most important intermediates derived from biomass, was directly produced from monosaccharides (fructose and glucose) and disaccharides (sucrose and cellobiose) by a simple one-pot reaction including hydrolysis, isomerization and dehydration using solid acid and base catalysts under mild conditions.