Abstract
The use of biomass for the production of energy and higher added value products is a topic of increasing interest in line with growing environmental concerns and circular economy. Mesoporous material Sn-In-MCM-41 was synthesized for the first time and used as a catalyst for the transformation of sugars to methyl lactate (ML). This catalyst was characterized in depth by various techniques and compared with Sn-MCM-41 and In-MCM-41 catalysts. In the new Sn-In-MCM-41 material, both metals, homogeneously distributed throughout the mesoporous structure of MCM-41, actuate in a cooperative way in the different steps of the reaction mechanism. As a result, yields to ML of 69.4 and 73.9% in the transformation of glucose and sucrose were respectively reached. In the case of glucose, the ML yield 1.5 and 2.6 times higher than those of Sn-MCM-41 and In-MCM-41 catalysts, respectively. The Sn-In-MCM-41 catalyst was reused in the transformation of glucose up to four cycles without significant loss of catalytic activity. Finally, life cycle assessment comparison between chemical and biochemical routes to produce ML allowed us to conclude that the use of Sn-In-MCM-41 reduces the environmental impacts compared to Sn-MCM-41. Nevertheless, to make the chemical route comparable to the biochemical one, improvements in the catalyst and ML synthesis have to be achieved.
Highlights
Lactic acid is a platform chemical that can be used for a wide range of applications in the chemical, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and food industries,[1] as well as for the production of poly-lactic acid, which is a biodegradable, biocompatible, and environmentally friendly biopolymer.[2]
The functional unit of this study is the production of 1 kg of methyl lactate (ML) by biochemical and chemical (Sn-MCM-41 and Sn-In-MCM-41 catalysts) routes
Results of this analysis show coefficients of variation for the environmental impact indicators (EIIs) below 5%. This allows us to conclude that the biochemical route data can be used with enough confidence. Because in both chemical routes the ML yield varies during the catalytic cycles, we considered that the catalyst was reused four times with an averaged glucose yield to ML of 40 and 62% for Sn-MCM-41 and Sn-In-MCM-41 catalysts, respectively
Summary
Lactic acid is a platform chemical that can be used for a wide range of applications in the chemical, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and food industries,[1] as well as for the production of poly-lactic acid, which is a biodegradable, biocompatible, and environmentally friendly biopolymer.[2] Lactic acid is obtained industrially mainly through the fermentation of carbohydrates (usually pentoses or hexoses) in aqueous medium. This process has some drawbacks related to nutrient costs, generation of gypsum waste in the neutralization step, and low volumetric productivities.[3]. Other homogeneous catalysts have been reported for the production of alkyl lactates, such as NaOHneutralized SnCl46 or Sn4+-based organometallic complexes.[7]
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