UiO‐66‐Derived MgO/ZrO ₂ Composite with Tailored Basicity for High‐Selectivity Isomerization of Glucose to Fructose in Water

Abstract High‐selectivity glucose isomerization to fructose is essential for the biorefinery industry and fructose syrup production. In this work, a catalyst with tailored basicity was synthesized via the calcination of a MOFs (metal‐organic frameworks)‐based composite and employed as a chemo‐catalyst for glucose isomerization, achieving high fructose selectivity. Characterization results confirmed that the synthesized catalyst was a composite consisting of and MgO, with MgO highly dispersed within the channels of . The MOFs templating effect restricted particle size and minimized agglomeration of MgO particles, enhancing the interaction between MgO and . This strong interaction effectively modulated the basicity of the catalyst, resulting in the predominance of weak basic sites. As a result, the catalyst demonstrated superior performance in glucose isomerization, achieving a 38.4% fructose yield with 90.9% selectivity at a 10 wt% glucose concentration, outperforming catalysts prepared by conventional methods. However, leaching remains a challenge. This work presents a novel approach for synthesizing highly dispersed mixed oxides and provides an effective catalyst for glucose isomerization.