LAUSR

5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) represents a well-known class of lignocellulosic biomass-derived platform molecules.  With the presence of many reactive functional groups in the structure, this versatile building block could be valorized into a plenty of value-added products. Among well-established catalytic transformations in biorefinery, the reductive amination is of particular interest to provide valuable N-containing compounds. Specifically, the reductive amination of 5-HMF with ammonia (NH3) and molecular hydrogen (H2) offers a straightforward and sustainable access to primary furanic amines, i.e., 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfuryl amine (HMFA) and 2,5-bis(aminomethyl)furan (BAMF), which display far-reaching utilities in pharmaceutical, chemical and polymer industry. In the presence of heterogeneous catalysts contanining monometals (Ni, Co, Ru, Pd, Pt, and Rh) or bimetals (Ni-Cu and Ni-Mn), this elegant pathway enables a high and chemo-selective yielding of HMFA/BAMF compared to other synthetic routes. This review aims to present an up-to-date highlight on the supported metal-catalyzed reductive amination of 5-HMF with elaborate studies on the role of metal, solid support, and reaction parameters. Besides, the recyclability-adaptability of catalysts as well as the reaction mechanism are also provided to give valuable insights into this potential 5-HMF valorization strategy.