Hydroxymethylfurfural is prepared from an aqueous solution of hexose sugar, in particular a high fructose corn syrup product. By rapidly heating the sugar solution to the elevated temperatures under consideration, and also rapidly cooling the resulting product mixture, a limited per-pass conversion to HMF is achieved; accordingly, at the same time, the overall effect on the HMF that is formed by acidic conditions with elevated temperatures is also limited so as to reduce the amount of by-products. Product separation and recovery is simplified and levels of HMF and other hexose dehydration products known to inhibit the production of ethanol by fermentation in the residual sugar product are reduced to such an extent that the residual sugar product is suitable for fermentation directly to ethanol or for other applications.
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