A Brønsted–Lewis–surfactant-combined heteropolyacid (HPA) Cr[(DS)H₂PW₁₂O₄₀]₃ has been synthesized, and is used as a heterogeneous catalyst for the conversion of cellulose to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural in one pot within 2 h at 150 °C with 77.1% conversion and 52.7% yield. This micellar HPA catalyst shows stability and can be recycled by simple separation process.

A series of heteropolyacid (HPA) ionic liquids [C₄H₆N₂(CH₂)₃SO₃H]_3−nH_nPW₁₂O₄₀ ([MIMPSH]_nH_3−nPW₁₂O₄₀, n = 1, 2 3, abbreviated as [MIMPSH]_nH_3−nPW) was used to catalyze one-pot depolymerization of cellulose into glucose. Their performances were much better than those of the previously reported HPAs, such as H₃PW₁₂O₄₀, Cs_2.5H_0.5PW₁₂O₄₀. Besides cellulose, the HPA ionic liquids were able to catalyze the conversion of sucrose and starch into glucose. In addition, one-pot synthesis of levulinic acid (LA) directly from cellulose was realized using these HPA ionic liquid catalysts in a water–methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) biphasic system. The separation of the products and catalysts was easy, and the retrieved [MIMPSH]_nH_3−nPW could be repeatedly used without appreciable loss of performance.

A new series of heteropolyacids [(CH ₃ ) ₃ NCH ₂ CH ₂ OH] _n H _5−n AlW ₁₂ O ₄₀ are used to catalyse the single step conversion of cellulose into levulinic acid (LA). The highest reported yield of LA directly from cellulose was achieved with 74.8% yield and 98.9% conversion in one pot.