Influence of the presence of impurities and of the biomass source on the performance of Ru catalysts in the hydrolytic hydrogenation of cellulose towards γ-valerolactone

Mechanism of CO2 in promoting the hydrogenation of levulinic acid to γ-valerolactone catalyzed by RuCl3 in aqueous solution

“…2 In particular, the hydrogenation of LA to g-valerolactone (GVL) has become increasingly attractive [3][4][5][6] since GVL can be widely used as a highly effective fuel additive, food additive, green solvent, and intermediate for biobased polymers. [7][8][9] To date, both heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysts have been widely used in the selective hydrogenation of LA to GVL. Heterogeneous catalysts, i.e., Ru-, [9][10][11][12][13][14] Pt-, 15 Fe-, 16 Co-, 17 Ni-, 18 and Cu-based catalysts, 16,19 exhibit good activity for LA hydrogenation.…”

“…[7][8][9] To date, both heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysts have been widely used in the selective hydrogenation of LA to GVL. Heterogeneous catalysts, i.e., Ru-, [9][10][11][12][13][14] Pt-, 15 Fe-, 16 Co-, 17 Ni-, 18 and Cu-based catalysts, 16,19 exhibit good activity for LA hydrogenation. Compared with heterogeneous catalysts, homogeneous catalysts, including Ru-, [20][21][22][23][24] Ir-, [25][26][27] Pt-, 28 and Nicontaining complexes, 5,29 have higher catalytic efficiency and selectivity under mild reaction conditions.…”

“…2 In particular, the hydrogenation of LA to γ-valerolactone (GVL) has become increasingly attractive 3–6 since GVL can be widely used as a highly effective fuel additive, food additive, green solvent, and intermediate for biobased polymers. 7–9…”

“…Heterogeneous catalysts, i.e. , Ru-, 9–14 Pt-, 15 Fe-, 16 Co-, 17 Ni-, 18 and Cu-based catalysts, 16,19 exhibit good activity for LA hydrogenation. Compared with heterogeneous catalysts, homogeneous catalysts, including Ru-, 20–24 Ir-, 25–27 Pt-, 28 and Ni-containing complexes, 5,29 have higher catalytic efficiency and selectivity under mild reaction conditions.…”

High yield production of 2-methyltetrahydrofuran biofuel with reusable Ni-Co catalysts

“…Overall reaction pathways of the stepwise hydrodeoxygenation of GVL into 2-MTHF 2-MTHF is derived from lignocellulosic biomass via a multi-step sequential process, consisting first in the hydrolysis of cellulose towards levulinic acid (LA), and its subsequent hydrogenation towards GVL, that can occur easily even in mild reaction conditions [8,9]. The production of GVL from biomass-derived levulinic acid is already a well-studied step with optimized catalysts [8,9]. Therefore it is highly worth to investigate the following step in the biomass-value chain towards biofuels, that is usually more demanding.…”