Premium
Hetropolyacid‐Catalyzed Oxidation of Glycerol into Lactic Acid under Mild Base‐Free Conditions
Author(s) -
Tao Meilin,
Yi Xiaohu,
Delidovich Irina,
Palkovits Regina,
Shi Junyou,
Wang Xiaohong
Publication year - 2015
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.201501200
Subject(s) - dihydroxyacetone , glycerol , catalysis , chemistry , lactic acid , selectivity , glyceraldehyde , leaching (pedology) , redox , organic chemistry , bacteria , biology , ecology , soil water , dehydrogenase , genetics , enzyme
Lactic acid (LA) is a versatile platform molecule owing to the opportunity to transform this compound into useful chemicals and materials. Therefore, efficient production of LA based on inexpensive renewable feedstocks is of utmost importance for insuring its market availability. Herein, we report the efficient conversion of glycerol into LA catalyzed by heteropolyacids (HPAs) under mild base‐free conditions. The catalytic performance of molecular HPAs appears to correlate with their redox potential and Brønsted acidity. Namely, H 3 PMo 12 O 40 (HPMo) exhibits the best selectivity towards LA (90 %) with 88 % conversion of glycerol. Loading of HPMo onto a carbon support (HPMo/C) further improves LA productivity resulting in 94 % selectivity at 98 % conversion under optimized reaction conditions. The reaction takes place through the formation of dihydroxyacetone/glyceraldehyde and pyruvaldehyde as intermediates. No leaching of HPMo was observed under the applied reaction conditions and HPMo/C could be recycled 5 times without significant loss of activity.