Abstract
Abstract The one-pot acid-catalyzed the conversion of furfuryl alcohol (FA) to ethyl levulinate (EL) was investigated in the presence of mesoporous aluminosilicate (TUD-1) with a high surface area (up to 579 m2 g−1) and well-interconnected mesospheres synthesized via a solvothermal process and characterized using scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, 27Al-NMR, and N2 sorption isotherm. The resulting solid acid catalyst was tested for the alcoholysis of FA with ethanol, affording 87.8% EL yield under the optimal reaction conditions of 120°C and 4 h. Moreover, the catalyst showed a good reusability with less loss of activity after a simple solvent washing and calcination procedure.
Highlights
The conversion of renewable biomass resources into nonpetroleum derived fuels and chemicals is becoming increasingly attractive as a way to avoid intensification of global warming and to diversify energy sources [1,2,3,4,5,6]
The transformation of relatively bulky substrates as furfuryl alcohol (FA) may be hindered in a microporous structure for large size and volume; the use of mesoporous aluminosilicate (TUD-1) may be preferable for this reaction
The powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern of TUD-1 shows a very broad peak centered around 23° (Figure 2a), indicating the amorphous nature of the mesoporous structure material [44,45,46]
Summary
The conversion of renewable biomass resources into nonpetroleum derived fuels and chemicals is becoming increasingly attractive as a way to avoid intensification of global warming and to diversify energy sources [1,2,3,4,5,6]. A series of efficient solid acid including acidic ion-exchange resins, sulfated oxides, supported heteropolyacids, and zeolites has been successfully developed and utilized [25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34]. The sulfated oxides and supported heteropolyacid catalysts may sustain coke burn off, but the leaching problem of acid sites during the reaction restricts the application of the two kinds of catalysts. Zeolites or zeotype materials are quite promising and have been widely used in the conversion of biomass to biofuels or high value-added chemicals due to their tunable acidity and three-dimensional porosity structure [41,42]. Neves et al [23] have reported the studies for the aluminosilicates and the sulfonic acid resin AmberlystTM-15 on the basis of EL yields, the undesirable formation, and catalyst stability
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