Abstract
Tin modified silicotungstic acid (STA) deposited on Ta2O5 was explored as suitable catalyst for the conversion of levulinic acid to ethyl levulinate. The microwave synthesized catalysts of varying amounts of STA were characterised by N2 adsorption, powder XRD, FT-IR, FE-SEM, XPS, pyridine-FT-IR, TGA-DTA and NH3-TPD. Among the synthesized catalysts, 50% Sn2STA/Ta2O5 catalyst exhibited excellent catalytic activity for the esterification of levulinic acid providing 78% of ethyl levulinate yield and stable recyclability up to three cycles. The rate of esterification was 6.6 × 10−3 mol/g/min, which is significantly higher compared to reported values in the open literature. Mechanistic investigations revealed that the high catalytic activity was influenced by the presence of appropriate Brønsted acid sites, surface area and porosity.
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