5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) is an important biomass-derived building block, but production and sustainable utilization of HMF remain challenging due to reactions of the highly reactive functional groups of this compound. H4SiW12O40/MCM-41 nanospheres were developed that exhibit 84.1% selectivity to 5-ethoxymethylfurfural (EMF) when HMF conversion reaches 92.0%, during etherification of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) with ethanol under mild conditions. The catalyst could be reused, and its activity remained unaffected over five cycles. The strong acidity of the catalyst significantly enhanced etherification. The acetalized byproducts, 5-(diethoxymethyl)-2-furanmethanol and the HMF-dimer (5,5'(oxybis(methylene))bis-2-furfural), can be converted into HMF and then transformed to the main product, EMF, by using this catalyst to shift the reaction equilibrium. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.