Conversion of levulinic acid to valuable chemicals: a review

Abstract

Levulinic acid (LA), a class of important chemical intermediates and new energy chemicals, has been considered one of the top-12 platform compounds that can be converted from biomass resources. Substantial progress on the conversion of lignocellulose biomass to LA and the further conversion of LA to high value downstream chemicals have been achieved recently. This review summarizes the preparation and separation processes of LA firstly, and then, emphatically discusses the catalytic system for LA conversion to valuable downstream products, including levulinate esters, 2-methyl tetrahydrofuran (MTHF), Gammavalerolactone (GVL), 5-aminolevulinic acid (DALA), and diphenolic acid (DPA). An outlook is provided at the end of this paper to highlight the challenges and opportunities for the comprehensive utilization of lignocellulose biomass.

Ru@hyperbranched Polymer for Hydrogenation of Levulinic Acid to Gamma-Valerolactone: The Role of the Catalyst Support

“…Generally, the hydrogenation of LA is performed in polar solvents, such as 1,4-dioxane, THF, alcohols, and water. The use of organic solvents usually provides the higher conversion of LA compared with the reaction in water [ 2 , 14 , 16 , 29 , 52 ]. Nevertheless, some authors point out the positive influence of water as a co-solvent on the reaction rate and the product yield [ 14 , 16 , 53 ].…”

“…Levulinic acid (LA) is one of the substances that can be obtained from cellulosic biomass via acid hydrolysis [ 1 ]. It is an important compound in biofuel production because it serves as a universal building block for syntheses of liquid fuel components [ 2 ]. In particular, gamma-valerolactone (GVL) obtained in the selective LA hydrogenation is a versatile intermediate for production of fuel additives and chemicals [ 3 , 4 , 5 ].…”

“…For example, Ru deposited on carbon was shown to be less active than that deposited on silica or alumina supports, while titanium oxide is considered as one of the most promising catalytic supports [ 10 , 26 ]. As a rule, to achieve a complete conversion and a high GVL yield, elevated temperatures of 150–200 °C and a hydrogen pressure of 1–5 MPa are needed [ 2 , 5 , 14 , 16 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ].…”

Design of Heterogeneous Catalysts for the Conversion of Furfural to C5 Derivatives: A Brief Review

“…These compounds can be used for the production of drugs, fungicides, pesticides, fuel additives, etc. [82,83].…”

Selective Conversion of Glucose to Levulinic Acid Catalyzed by HPAs/MOF-5 in a Hydrophilic Eutectic Solvent System

“…The chemical industry will prefer more ecologically friendly and cost-effective solvents as people’s awareness of environmental protection grows. Dimethyl sulfoxide, ionic liquids, and two-phase systems are extensively used solvent systems for synthesizing 5-HMF and LA from glucose or fructose. , Ramírez et al investigated the conversion of fructose in a 1-butanol/H 2 O mixture utilizing sulfonic polystyrene–divinylbenzene ion exchange resins as the catalyst, yielding 73.4 mol % butyl levulinate at 120 °C . The reaction of LA with the solvent 1-butanol to increase the yield of butyl levulinate did not result in the predicted enrichment of the target product LA.…”