Researchers from University of Wisconsin-Madison in the United States have developed a process for producing a biofuel with better properties than ethanol.  In a recent issue of the journal Nature, Chemical and Biological Engineering Professor James Dumesic and his team reported the “production of dimethylfuran for liquid fuels from biomass-derived carbohydrates”. The process starts with the chemical conversion of the raw material (a 5-carbon sugar called fructose) to HMF (hydroxymethylfurfural) using an acid catalyst in the presence of a low boiling point solvent.  The solvent extracts the HMF from the reaction mixture for processing in the next step, which is the conversion of HMF to DMF, using a copper-based catalyst.  The final biofuel product, DMF, is said to contain the following improvements over ethanol: (1) 40% higher energy density, (2) higher boiling point (i.e., DMF is less volatile and remains liquid in the fuel tank, and vapour in the engine, and (3) does not absorb water..