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Efficient Vapor-Phase Selective Hydrogenolysis of Bio-Levulinic Acid to γ-Valerolactone Using Cu Supported on
Harisekhar Mitta1,2, Prem Kumar Seelam3, K V Raghava Chary2
1State Key Laboratory of Catalysis Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics Chinese Academy of Sciences Dalian 116023 China.
Abstract:
In this work, Cu nanoparticles (Cu NPs, 2-20 nm) supported on Hydrotalcite catalysts exhibit enhanced selectivity for γ-valerolactone (GVL) during hydrogenolysis of levulinic acid (LA). At 260 °C, over 3 wt% Cu achieved 87.5% of LA conversion with a maximum GVL selectivity (95%). In contrast, LA hydrogenolysis over 3Cu/Hydrotalcite catalyst is highly active and stable toward the production of GVL due to balanced acido-basicity and higher Cu dispersion with ultrasmall particle sizes, which are investigated through the temperature programmed desorption (TPD) of ammonia, N2O titration, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis. Hydrotalcite in combination with inexpensive Cu catalyst is found to be an efficient and environmentally benign for LA hydrogenolysis.
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