Synthesis of 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid dimethyl ester from galactaric acid via dimethyl carbonate chemistry

A convenient and simple procedure for the one-pot synthesis of 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid dimethyl ester (FDME) from galactaric (mucic) acid via dimethyl carbonate (DMC) chemistry is presented. Optimization of the reaction conditions showed that when galactaric acid was reacted with DMC in the presence of Amberlyst-36 for 2 hours at 200 °C, FDME formed as the main product. The compound was isolated as a pure crystalline powder in 70% yield using a simple custom-made purification protocol. The reaction intermediates of this one-pot procedure were identified and a possible reaction mechanism was proposed