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Conversion of Furfuryl Alcohol into Ethyl Levulinate using Solid Acid Catalysts
Author(s) -
Lange JeanPaul,
van de Graaf Wouter D.,
Haan René J.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
chemsuschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.412
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1864-564X
pISSN - 1864-5631
DOI - 10.1002/cssc.200800216
Subject(s) - levulinic acid , furfural , furfuryl alcohol , chemistry , catalysis , organic chemistry , alcohol , cellulosic ethanol , ethanol , cellulose
Cellulosic biofuel : Ethyl levulinate is a promising biofuel that can be obtained from lignocellulosic residues. A byproducts, furfural, can be converted into ethyl levulinate in an acid‐based process. Here, the use of solid acid catalysts for the conversion of furfuryl alcohol into ethyl levulinate is reported.Furfural, a potential coproduct of levulinic acid, can be converted into levulinic acid via hydrogenation to furfuryl alcohol and subsequent ethanolysis to ethyl levulinate. The ethanolysis reaction is known to proceed in the presence of H 2 SO 4 . We show here that several strongly acidic resins are comparably effective catalysts for this reaction. Optimal performance is achieved by balancing the number of acid sites with their accessibility in the resin. Acidic zeolites such as H‐ZSM‐5 also catalyze this reaction, although with a lower activity and a higher coproduction of diethyl ether.