Production of Bio‐Gamma‐Butyrolactone from Succinic Acid in Bio‐Derivable Tetrahydrofuran Solvent

Abstract Gamma‐butyrolactone (GBL) production from biomass‐derived succinic acid (SA) has been actively conducted in recent years. However, petroleum‐derived 1,4‐dioxane, along with water and ethanol, has been used as the solvent. In this study, we employed bio‐derivable tetrahydrofuran (THF), a greener solvent that suppresses GBL overreaction. SA hydrogenation was conducted under milder conditions than in previous studies, with reaction times (1–8 h), temperatures (170–230 °C), and initial H 2 pressures (2–4 MPa) varied systematically. Results show that at 230 °C, both GBL consumption and SA side reactions are substantially facilitated. H 2 pressure strongly influences GBL selectivity with optimum conditions (initial H 2 pressure of 4 MPa, reaction temperature of 200 °C, and reaction time of 6 h), yielding the highest GBL yield (46.8 mol%) and selectivity (55.7 mol%). THF achieved comparable GBL yields and selectivities in the SA–GBL reaction to those of dioxane. In addition, we predict pathways for byproduct formation in the SA–GBL reaction in THF solvent.