Kinetics for glucose conversion to levulinic acid over solid acid catalyst in γ-valerolactone solution

Abstract

A CH3-SBA-15-SO3H catalyst was synthesized for the conversion of glucose to levulinic acid. The performance of the catalyst was demonstrated by comparative experiments using γ-valerolactone solution system versus pure water system. Significantly, the conversion efficiency was almost five times higher for γ-valerolactone solution than that of the pure water. The side reactions of the γ-valerolactone solution system were probably less than that of water system. In order to provide a better understanding of the catalytic reaction and guide the engineering design, the kinetics of levulinic acid production from glucose over CH3-SBA-15-SO3H catalyst in γ-valerolactone solution were investigated. The kinetic model was established based on four differential equations, and the model results were fitted well to the experimental results. Notably, the activation energies of the production of 5-HMF and levulinic acid were 76.55 kJ/mol and 62.66 kJ/mol, respectively, which were obviously smaller than those previously reported, this may be attributed to the synergistic effect of the solid acid and the high concentration of γ-valerolactone solution.