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Computational Mechanism of Methyl Levulinate Conversion to γ-Valerolactone on UiO-66 Metal Organic Frameworks
Manuel A Ortuño1,2, Marcos Rellán-Piñeiro1, Rafael Luque3,4
1Centro Singular de Investigación en Química Biolóxica e Materiais Moleculares (CIQUS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Abstract:
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are gaining importance in the field of biomass conversion and valorization due to their porosity, well-defined active sites, and broad tunability. But for a proper catalyst design, we first need detailed insight of the system at the atomic level. Herein, we present the reaction mechanism of methyl levulinate to γ-valerolactone on Zr-based UiO-66 by means of periodic density functional theory (DFT). We demonstrate the role of Zr-based nodes in the catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) and cyclization steps. From there, we perform a computational screening to reveal key catalyst modifications to improve the process, such as node doping and linker exchange.
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