Among Ni supported on H-ZSM-5 catalysts with various loadings of Ni, a catalyst with 30 weight% Ni has been identified as an effective catalyst for the hydrogenation of levulinic acid to g-valerolactone in vapour phase at atmospheric pressure. The catalysts have been characterized by different techniques such as XRD, BET surface area, pore size distribution, TPR, AAS, pulse chemisorption, FE-SEM-EDS, TEM, XPS and pyridine-adsorbed IR. XRD patterns suggest that the structure of H-ZSM-5 is intact even after incorporation of Ni. Pyridine-adsorbed IR patterns reveal the presence of both Lewis and Brønsted acid sites, which are responsible for the dehydration and cleavage of g-valerolactone. The superior activity exhibited by the 30 wt% Ni/H-ZSM-5 catalyst (demonstrating the highest productivity of 0.9090 kg GVL kg catalyst À1 h À1 at 250 C) is due to the presence of a greater number of surface Ni species. Non-noble metal Ni-based catalysts offer advantages over the present processes involving Ru-based catalysts, which have certain constraints, some of which are unavoidable such as cost ineffectiveness, the use of volatile organic solvents and high pressure operation. The 30 wt% Ni/H-ZSM-5 catalyst can be seen as an alternative and promising catalyst which could be of great importance to the chemical industry.

This review focuses on the importance of coupling of catalytic reactions which involves dehydrogenation and hydrogenation simultaneously and the study of catalytic materials that are designed, adopted and/or modified for these reactions. The special features of these reactions are minimization of H 2 utilization and reduction in production cost. Structural and textural properties also play a decisive role in this kind of coupled reactions. This particular review although not comprehensive discusses the significant progress made in the area of coupled reactions and also helps future researchers or engineers to find out the improvements required in areas such as advancements in catalytic material preparation, design of the new reactors and the application of new technologies.

Review: 49 refs.