A novel and practical synthesis method for carbonaceous materials was proposed by the vapor-phase hydrothermal treatment of sucrose at a mild 200 °C temperature. The resultant carbon possesses a 52 m2 g−1 specific surface area and 0.18 cm3 g−1 total pore volume – values that are substantially higher than those of conventional hydrothermally treated sugar solutions. The functionalization of the porous carbon with –SO3H led to acidic materials with high catalytic activity and selectivity towards, e.g., the sylvan condensation with furfural.
