Catalytic valorisation of biomass levulinic acid into gamma valerolactone using formic acid as a H₂ donor: a critical review

Abstract

This review sheds light on the catalytic valorisation of agroforestry biomass through levulinic acid and formic acid towards γ-valerolactone and other higher-value chemicals.

Solvent-free Preparation of Ru/Al2O3 Catalysts for CO2 Methanation: An Example of Frugal Innovation

“…Industries play a crucial role in achieving sustainable development goals and must evolve to reduce their impact on the planet while ensuring its prosperity. , Catalysis is a lever for solving global socio-economic challenges such as the continuous growth in energy and natural depletable resource requirements in numerous application fields including health (drug or protein synthesis), , energy (oil refining and small molecule valorization), – bioresources transformation, and environmental remediation. – Therefore, there is a research craze for the development of new supported heterogeneous catalysts …”

Promoted catalytic vapor phase transfer hydrogenation of levulinic acid to γ‐valerolactone by coordinated size effect and acid property of bimetallic Ni/ CeO 2 catalyst

“…2,3 Considering that the acid hydrolysis of cellulose and furfuryl alcohol produces levulinic acid and by-product formic acid simultaneously, 4,5 it becomes practical to select formic acid as the hydrogen rather than the gaseous hydrogen, which not only reduces the cost of separation but also is more economical and safer. 6,7 The synthesis of GVL by hydrogenation of levulinic acid is generally believed to follow the two reaction routes: (1) hydrogenation of the keto group of levulinate to form an unstable intermediate 4-hydroxyvaleric acid which is then subjected to molecular dehydration lactonization and cyclization to generate GVL; (2) LA is first dehydrated to yield α-Angelica lactone and β-Angelica lactone, which are then hydrogenated to yield GVL. 8 In both approaches, the hydrogenation step depends on the activity of the metal catalyst, whereas the dehydration and ring closure steps are both affected by the acidity.…”

“…Among the numerous biomass‐derived platform molecules, levulinic acid has attracted much attention due to its multiple functions with ketone and acid functional groups 2,3 . Considering that the acid hydrolysis of cellulose and furfuryl alcohol produces levulinic acid and by‐product formic acid simultaneously, 4,5 it becomes practical to select formic acid as the hydrogen rather than the gaseous hydrogen, which not only reduces the cost of separation but also is more economical and safer 6,7 …”

Biocatalysts Synthesized with Lipase from Pseudomonas cepacia on Glycol-Modified ZIF-8: Characterization and Utilization in the Synthesis of Green Biodiesel

“…The reuse of the heterogeneous catalyst mainly defines its economic viability. However, current heterogeneous biodiesel technology has not shown any substantial reuse, and therefore heterogeneous catalyst reuse needs to be improved to develop a sustainable biodiesel production technology [ 19 , 20 ]. Many studies have been performed on the synthesis of heterogeneous catalysts to reduce the problems of homogeneous catalysts in biodiesel synthesis.…”