Levulinic Acid Hydrogenation with Homogeneous Cu(I) Catalyst

Abstract

AbstractWe report the first well‐defined homogeneous copper‐based catalyst for levulinic acid (LVA) hydrogenation using complex [(PPh3)2Cu(k2‐O,O‐LVA)] as a copper source and (1,2‐bis(diisopropyl phosphino)ethane (dippe) as an ancillary ligand. This catalytic precursor has high activity in LVA hydrogenation and yields γ‐valerolactone (GVL) under relatively mild reaction conditions (24 h, 140 °C) in a base‐free system using H2 (300 psi) as a reductant. Under optimized conditions, GVL was obtained with excellent yield (>99 %) and selectivity (>99 %) using a low catalytic load (0.025 mol %), allowing a TON=4000.