Petroleum ether (60–80 °C, 99%), ethyl acetate (99%), and methanol (99%) were purchased from Loba Chemie Pvt. Ltd. Benzene (99%), toluene (99%), o-xylene (99%), m-xylene (99%), p-xylene (99%), isopropylbenzene (99%), ethylbenzene (99%), mesitylene (99%), zinc chloride (anhydrous, 95%), nitromethane (99%), molecular sieve (4 Å), and silica gel (60–120 mesh) were procured from Spectrochem. Palladium(ii) acetate (98%), 10% Pd/C, and Amberlyst-15 were procured from Sigma-Aldrich. 5-(Acetoxymethyl)furfural (AcMF) was prepared from fructose following a literature process.28 (link) The solvents were dried over activated molecular sieves for 24 h before use. All the chemicals were used as received without further purification.