Support screening studies on the hydrogenation of levulinic acid to γ‐valerolactone in water using RU catalysts

Anna Piskun, Jozef G M Winkelman, Zhenchen Tang, Hero Jan Heeres*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

36 Citations (Scopus)
283 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

γ-Valerolactone (GVL) has been identified as a sustainable platform chemical for the production of carbon-based chemicals. Here we report a screening study on the hydrogenation of levulinic acid (LA) to GVL in water using a wide range of ruthenium supported catalysts in a batch set-up (1 wt. % Ru, 90 °C, 45 bar of H2, 2 wt. % catalyst on LA). Eight monometallic catalysts were tested on carbon based(C, carbon nanotubes (CNT)) and inorganic supports (Al2O3, SiO2, TiO2, ZrO2, Nb2O5 and Beta-12.5). The best result was found for Ru/Beta-12.5 with almost quantitative LA conversion (94%) and 66% of GVL yield after 2 h reaction. The remaining product was 4-hydroxypentanoic acid (4-HPA). Catalytic activity for a bimetallic RuPd/TiO2 catalyst was by far lower than for the monometallic Ru catalyst (9% conversion after 2 h). The effects of relevant catalyst properties (average Ru nanoparticle size, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area, micropore area and total acidity) on catalyst activity were assessed.

Original languageEnglish
Article number131
Number of pages20
JournalCatalysts
Volume6
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1-Sept-2016

Keywords

  • Levulinic acid hydrogenation
  • Ru-catalysts
  • γ-valerolactone

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