1,4-pentanediol or monohydric alcohol were achieved with high selectivity from levulinic acid under relatively mild conditions using nanoporous Ru.

No abstract

Hydrogenation of levulinic acid (LA) was investigated with several supported Ni catalysts for the production of γ-valerolactone (GVL). The catalysts have been characterized with different techniques (XRD, N 2 adsorption-desorption, TPR, ICP-AES, TEM). Under the optimal reaction conditions of 150 °C, 1.0 MPa and 20 mL i-PrOH for 2 h, the highest selectivity (93.3%) of GVL was obtained. The productivity reached 0.32 mol GVL g metal -1 h -1 , which was highest compared with all reported Ni-based catalysts.