Hydrogenative Cyclization of Levulinic Acid to γ-Valerolactone with Methanol and Ni-Fe Bimetallic Catalysts

Catalysts

Ligang Luo¹  Qin Zeng¹  Xiao Han¹ 

[1] College of Life Science, Shanghai Normal University, 100 Guilin Rd, Shanghai 200241, China;

关键词: biomass ester derivatives;    solvothermal processing;    levulinic acid;    γ-valerolactone;    Ni-Fe bimetallic catalysts;   

DOI  :  10.3390/catal10091096

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

A series of Ni-Fe/SBA-15 catalysts was prepared and tested for the catalytic hydrogenation of levulinic acid to γ-valerolactone, adopting methanol as the only hydrogen donor, and investigating the synergism between Fe and Ni, both supported on SBA-15, towards this reaction. The characterization of the synthesized catalysts was carried out by XRD (X-ray powder diffraction), TEM (transmission electron microscopy), H₂-TPD (hydrogen temperature-programmed desorption), XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy), and in situ FT-IR (Fourier transform–infrared spectroscopy) techniques. H₂-TPD and XPS results have shown that electron transfer occurs from Fe to Ni, which is helpful both for the activation of the C=O bond and for the dissociative activation of H₂ molecules, also in agreement with the results of the in situ FT-IR spectroscopy. The effect of temperature and reaction time on γ-valerolactone production was also investigated, identifying the best reaction conditions at 200 °C and 180 min, allowing for the complete conversion of levulinic acid and the complete selectivity to γ-valerolactone. Moreover, methanol was identified as an efficient hydrogen donor, if used in combination with the Ni-Fe/SBA-15 catalyst. The obtained results are promising, especially if compared with those obtained with the traditional and more expensive molecular hydrogen and noble-based catalysts.

【 授权许可】

Unknown