NOVELTY - Producing 5-hydroxymethyl furfural, comprises: (a) dissolving cellulose in a choline chloride-citric acid-citric acid monohydrate system to obtain a solution; (b) adding a solid acidic catalyst to the solution followed by adding a hybrid catalyst; (c) extracting the obtained reaction mixture with liquid solvent to obtain a liquid solvent extract and a residual reaction mixture; (d) reacting the residual reaction mixture with the solid acidic catalyst followed by treating with the hybrid catalyst and extracting; and (e) combining the obtained liquid solvent extracts and concentrating.    USE - The 5-hydroxymethyl furfural is useful for producing valuable biochemicals, such as chiral reagents, active materials, polyhydroxyalkanoates, polymers and polymerization initiators, antifouling compounds, personal care products, lubricants, adsorbents, printing inks, coatings, electronics, photography, batteries, drug delivery reagents, corrosion inhibitors and bio-pesticides.    ADVANTAGE - The process can be operated in batch as well as in continuous mode. The process is: suitable for large scale production and cost effective; operated at workable temperature and atmospheric pressure; and very attractive for production of bio-chemicals and biofuel.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - Producing 5-hydroxymethyl furfural, comprises: (a) dissolving cellulose in a choline chloride-citric acid-citric acid monohydrate system to obtain a solution; (b) adding a solid acidic catalyst to the solution and carried out the reaction for 5-25 minutes followed by adding a hybrid catalyst and then the reaction carried out for a period of 90-120 minutes to allow the formation of reaction mixture; (c) extracting the reaction mixture with liquid solvent consisting of ethyl acetate and methyl isobutyl ketone to obtain a liquid solvent extract and a residual reaction mixture; (d) reacting the residual reaction mixture with the solid acidic catalyst followed by treating with the hybrid catalyst and extracting to obtain a liquid solvent extract and a residual reaction mixture; and (e) combining the liquid solvent extracts and concentrating to obtain 5-hydroxymethyl furfural and purifying using column chromatography.