Wu, W.; Li, Y.; Li, H.; Zhao, W.; Yang, S. Acid–Base Bifunctional Hf Nanohybrids Enable High Selectivity in the Catalytic Conversion of Ethyl Levulinate to γ-Valerolactone. Catalysts2018, 8, 264.
Wu, W.; Li, Y.; Li, H.; Zhao, W.; Yang, S. Acid–Base Bifunctional Hf Nanohybrids Enable High Selectivity in the Catalytic Conversion of Ethyl Levulinate to γ-Valerolactone. Catalysts 2018, 8, 264.
Wu, W.; Li, Y.; Li, H.; Zhao, W.; Yang, S. Acid–Base Bifunctional Hf Nanohybrids Enable High Selectivity in the Catalytic Conversion of Ethyl Levulinate to γ-Valerolactone. Catalysts2018, 8, 264.
Wu, W.; Li, Y.; Li, H.; Zhao, W.; Yang, S. Acid–Base Bifunctional Hf Nanohybrids Enable High Selectivity in the Catalytic Conversion of Ethyl Levulinate to γ-Valerolactone. Catalysts 2018, 8, 264.
Abstract
Catalytic upgrading of bio-based platform molecules is one of promising approaches for biomass valorization. However, most solid catalysts are thermally and/or chemically unstable and difficult to prepare. In this study, a stable organic phosphonate-hafnium solid catalyst (PPOA-Hf) was synthesized, and acid-base bifunctional sites were found to play a cooperative role in the cascade transfer hydrogenation and cyclization of ethyl levulinate (EL) to γ-valerolactone (GVL). Under relatively mild reaction conditions of 160 ºC for 6 h, EL was completely converted to GVL in a good yield of 85%. The apparent activation energy was calculated to be 53 kJ/mol, which was lower than other solid catalysts for the same reaction. In addition, the PPOA-Hf solid catalyst did not significantly decrease its activity after five recycles, and no evident leaching of Hf was observed, indicating its high stability and potential practical application.
Keywords
heterogeneous catalysis; transfer hydrogenation; biomass conversion; biofuels; catalytic materials
Subject
Chemistry and Materials Science, Applied Chemistry
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
