One-Pot Conversion of Biomass Saccharides to γ-Valerolactone over a Versatile Tin-Containing Material

The synthesis of biofuel γ-valerolactone (GVL) from accessible biomass is an attractive and challenging goal. Here, we report an efficient, one-pot, and mild strategy for the efficient production of GVL from various biomass saccharides without using any homogeneous acid as a co-catalyst and molecular hydrogen as a hydrogen donor. A versatile porous tin-containing material (Sn(M)-S) was designed as an individual heterogeneous catalyst. As high as 68.4 % yield of GVL form glucose was achieved in the presence of ammonia borane as a solid hydrogen donor under mild conditions, with GVL yields of 76.2 %, 68.9 %, 62.5 %, and 52.2 % being obtained from fructose, sucrose, cellobiose, and cellulose, respectively. The synergistic effect of Sn and sulfonic acid group in Sn(M)-S not only provides appropriate Lewis acid sites to promote the isomerization of glucose into fructose but also affords abundant Brønsted sites for the following conversion steps. Moreover, Sn(M)-S(1) showed good stability and reusability during consecutive recycles.