Esterification of levulinic acid to n-butyl levulinate over heteropolyacid supported on acid-treated clay

Levulinic acid has been identified as a promising green, biomass-derived platform chemical. n-Butyl levulinate is used as an important intermediate having diverse applications. The present work focuses on the synthesis of n-butyl levulinate by esterification of levulinic acid with n-butanol using heteropolyacid （HPA） supported on acid-treated clay montmorillonite （K10）. 20% （w/w） dodecatungestophosphoric acid （DTPA） supported on K10 was found to be the most efficient catalyst with 97% levulinic acid conversion and 100% selectivity towards n-butyl levulinate. Effects of various process parameters were studied to examine the efficacy of 20% （w/w） DTPA/K10 for optimization of the activity.

Efficient one-pot synthesis of n-butyl levulinate from carbohydrates catalyzed by Fe_2(SO_4)_3

Butyl levulinate（BL） is a promising new candidate as diesel fuel and fuel additive. In this study, an efficient process for a one-pot synthesis of BL from biomass-derived carbohydrates in butanol medium with the catalysis of metal sulfates was developed. The catalytic activity of a series of metal sulfates for the synthesis of BL from fructose was investigated. Among various metal sulfates, ferric sulfate Fe（SO）was found to be the most efficient catalyst, which gave a remarkably high BL yield of 62.8 mol% under the conditions of 463 K, 3 h, a catalyst dosage of 5.0 g/L, and fructose concentration of 25 g/L. Different carbohydrates including glucose, cellulose, inulin and sucrose were also used for one-pot synthesis of BL with the catalysis of Fe（SO）, showing the yields of 39.6, 30.5, 56.6 and 50.1 mol%, respectively. In addition,the recycling and reuse of Fe（SO）was studied by characterizing them using powder X-ray diffraction（XRD）, scanning electron microscope（SEM）, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy（XPS）. A plausible reaction pathway for the one-pot synthesis of BL from fructose was proposed. This study provides a facile and feasible way for the synthesis of BL from biomass.

Esterification of levulinic acid into n-butyl levulinate catalyzed by sulfonic acid-functionalized lignin-montmorillonite complex

In this study,sulfonic acid-functionalized lignin-montmorillonite complex(LMT-SO_(3)H)was pre-pared and employed as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for the esterification of levulinic acid(LA)into n-butyl levulinate(BL).An intermediate pseudo-butyl levulinate(p-BL)was determined by distilled water treatment and nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR)analysis,and a possible mech-anism for the esterification of LA is proposed.The effects of various process parameters were studied and the results showed that the LMT-SO_(3)H catalyst had the excellent catalytic perfor-mance for esterification of the LA.Under optimum reaction conditions,the yield of BL was 99.3%and the conversion of LA was 99.8%.The LMT-SO_(3)H catalyst exhibited strong acidic sites and high stability even after seven cycles of usage.Furthermore,esterification of the LA with various alcohols over the LMT-SO_(3)H was further investigated.

Synthesis, isolation and characterization of methyl levulinate from cellulose catalyzed by extremely low concentration acid

A direct synthesis of methyl levulinate from cellulose alcoholysis in methanol medium under mild condition(180 210 C)catalyzed by extremely low concentration sulfuric acid(0.01 mol/L)and the product isolation were developed in this study.Effects of different process variables towards the catalytic performance were performed as a function of reaction time.The results indicated that sulfuric acid concentration,temperature and initial cellulose concentration had significant effects on the synthesis of methyl levulinate.An optimized yield of around 50%was achieved at 210 C for 120 min with sulfuric acid concentration of 0.01 mol/L and initial cellulose concentration below 100 g/L.The resulting product mixture was isolated by a distillation technique that combines an atmospheric distillation with a vacuum distillation where n-dodecane was added to help distill the heavy fraction.The light fraction including mainly methanol could be reused as the reaction medium without any substantial change in the yield of methyl levulinate.The chemical composition and structural of lower heavy fraction were characterized by GC/MS,FTIR,1H-NMR and13C-NMR techniques.Methyl levulinate was found to be a major ingredient of lower heavy fraction with the content over 96%.This pathway is efficient,environmentally benign and economical for the production of pure levulinate esters from cellulose.

Modified solid acids derived from biomass based cellulose for one-step conversion of carbohydrates into ethyl levulinate

A series of metal salt-modified carbon catalysts had been prepared to study the selective transformation of various carbohydrates into ethyl levulinate in an ethanol medium. The specific textural and chemical characteristics of prepared carbon samples were identified by Raman, XRD, XPS, NH;-TPD, FT-IR and nitrogen physisorption. Various parameters such as ethanol/water volume ratio, Na Cl addition, reaction temperature, and catalyst dosage played a great role in ethyl levulinate production. A desirable ethyl levulinate yield of 58.0 mol% with a highest ROF（rate of ethyl levulinate formation per gram of catalyst per hour） value of 2148.3 μmol/(g;·h) was achieved at 468 K over FeCl;modified carbon catalyst with respect to fructose conversion. The recycling experiments revealed that the sulfonated carbon catalysts exhibited relatively satisfied activity and stability.

Production of octyl levulinate biolubricant over modified H-ZSM-5:Optimization by response surface methodology

The present study highlighted the use of modified H-ZSM-5 （Meso-HZ-5） as heterogeneous catalyst for the synthesis of octyl levulinate biolubricant by catalytic esterification of biomass derived renewable levulinic acid （LA） with n-octanol. The process variables such as catalyst loading （X1）, n-octanol to LA molar ratio （X2） and reaction temperature （X3） were optimized through response surface methodology （RSM）, using Box-Behnken model. Analysis of variance was performed to determine the adequacy and significance of the quadratic model. The yield of octyl levulinate was obtained to be 99% at optimum process parameters. The developed quadratic model was found to be adequate and statistically accurate with correlation value （R2） of 0.9971 to predict the yield of octyl levulinate biolubricant. The study was also extended on the validation of theoretical and experimental data, including catalyst reusability.

Efficient microwave-assisted production of biofuel ethyl levulinate from corn stover in ethanol medium

Levulinate esters are versatile chemicals that have been used in various fields. Herein, the production of ethyl levulinate（EL） from corn stover was investigated under microwave irradiation. Several reaction parameters, including acid concentration, reaction temperature, reaction time, and liquid-to-solid mass ratio, were investigated to evaluate the reaction conditions. Response surface methodology（RSM） was employed to optimize the reaction conditions for the production of EL. A quadratic polynomial model was fitted to the data with an R2 value of 0.93. The model validation results reflected a good fit between the experimental and predicted values. A high conversion yield（58.1 mol%） was obtained at the optimum conditions of 190℃, 30.4 min, 2.84 wt% acid, and 15 g/g liquid-to-solid mass ratio. Compared with conventional heating, microwave irradiation facilitated the conversion of corn stover to EL by dramatically shortening the reaction time from several hours to ～30 min. Thus, microwave-assisted conversion of corn stover to EL is an efficient way of utilizing a renewable biomass resource.

Hydrogen-transfer conversion of furfural into levulinate esters as potential biofuel feedstock

Furfural is directly converted to levulinate esters（isopropyl levulinate and furan-2-ylmethyl-levulinate） as potential biofuel feedstocks, through a combined catalytic strategy. Nb;O;-ZrO;mixed oxide microspheres are used as bifunctional catalysts for hydrogen-transfer hydrogenation and acid-catalyzed alcoholysis in isopropanol. Bifunctional catalysts improve sustainability of furfural conversion through process intensification. Hydrogen transfer hydrogenation from isopropanol avoids dangerous hydrogen gas, and abates process and environmental costs. Isopropyl levulinate and furan-2-ylmethyl-levulinate are the main products that can be applied as blending components in biodiesel or hydrocarbon fuels.

Enzymatic Conversion of Biobased Levulinic Acid into an Alternative Biofuel Candidate--Methyl Levulinate

Methyl levulinate(ML)is a promising green candidate for bio-based diesel fuel and fuel additives.An efficient enzyme-catalyzed process to synthesize ML from levulinic acid(LA)in methanol was developed.The catalytic activity of a series of lipases including Novozyme 435(N435),NRTL IM,and 40086 was screened,and the N435 was identified as the optimal biocatalyst for the process.The effects of lipase amount,methyl tert-butyl ether(MTBE)volume,methanol to LA molar ratio,reaction temperature,and magnetic stirrer speed on LA conversion and ML yield were investigated.The response surface methodology was adopted to optimize the enzymatic conversion process,and the model validation experiments showed that the predicted values corresponded well with the experimental values.A LA conversion of 90.1%and a ML yield of 89.8%were achieved under reaction conditions covering:a temperature of 45°C,a reaction time of 4.6 h,a N435 dosage of 26 mg,a methanol to LA molar ratio of 3.6:1,a MTBE volume of 3.85 mL,and a stirrer speed of 150 r/min.The N435 recycling experiment indicated that the lipase activity was quite high after 12 cycles.However,upon using crude LA prepared from carbohydrates as the reactant,the conversion of LA and the ML yield decreased due to impurities existing in the crude LA.

Selectively reductive amination of levulinic acid with aryl amines to N-substituted aryl pyrroles

Synthesizing nitrogen(N)-containing molecules from biomass derivatives is a new strategy for production of this kind of chemicals.Herein,for the first time we present the synthesis of N-substituted aryl pyrroles via reductive amination/cyclization of levulinic acid(LA)with primary aromatic amines and hydrosilanes(e.g.,PMHS)over Cs F,and a series of N-substituted aryl pyrroles could be obtained in good to excellent yields at 120○C.The mechanism investigation indicates that the reaction proceeds in two steps:the cyclization between amine and LA occurs first to form intermediate 5-methyl-N-alkyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-pyrrolones and their isomeride(B),and then the chemo-and region-selective reduction of intermediates take place to produce the final products.This approach for synthesis of N-substituted aryl pyrroles can be performed under mild and green conditions,which may have promising applications.

Liquid–liquid extraction of levulinic acid from aqueous solutions using hydrophobic tri-n-octylamine/alcohol-based deep eutectic solvent

Levulinic acid(LA)is one of the top-12 most promising biomass-based platform chemicals,which has a wide range of applications in a variety of fields.However,separation and purification of LA from aqueous solution or actual hydrolysate continues to be a challenge.Among various downstream separation technologies,liquid-liquid extraction is a low-cost,effective,and simple process to separate LA.The key breakthrough lies in the development of extractants with high extraction efficiency,good hydrophobicity,and low cost.In this work,three hydrophobic deep eutectic solvents(DESs)based on tri-n-octylamine(TOA)as hydrogen bond acceptor(HBA)and alcohols(butanol,2-octanol,and menthol)as hydrogen bond donors(HBDs)were developed to extract LA from aqueous solution.The molar ratios of HBD and HBA,extraction temperature,contact time,solution pH,and initial LA concentration,DES/water volume ratios were systematically investigated.Compared with 2-octanol-TOA and menthol-TOA DES,the butanol-TOA DES exhibited the superior extraction performance for LA,with a maximum extraction efficiency of 95.79±1.4%.Moreover,the solution pH had a great impact on the LA extraction efficiency of butanol-TOA(molar ratio=3:1).It is worth noting that the extraction equilibrium time was less than 0.5 h.More importantly,the butanol-TOA(3:1)DES possesses good extraction abilities for low,medium,and high concentrations of LA.

Ethyl Levulinate Obtained from Lignocellulosic Waste Material with Previous Delignification by Ultrasonic-Assisted Technique

Ultrasound-assisted pretreatment under mild operating conditions has been investigated for intensification of delignification to facilitate the obtaining of ethyl levulinate from biomass. The effect of pH (2 - 12), temperature (30°C - 70°C) and pretreatment time (0 - 120 minutes) has been studied for different biomass samples. The most favorable conditions were basic pH, temperature of 70°C and pretreatment time of 2 h, obtaining values of delignification near 80 percent. The ethyl levulinate is obtained in microwave directly via from samples before and after delignification and analyzed for GC-MS. The results evidenced better yields for the delignified samples.

乙酰丙酸环氧甘油单酯缩酮乙酯的合成及其增塑性能

以乙酰丙酸乙酯、甘油、油酸等大宗生物基化学品为原料,通过酯化反应、缩酮反应及环氧化反应初步制备了一种潜在具有增塑性能的新型化合物乙酰丙酸环氧甘油单酯缩酮乙酯(ELMG),并将其与聚氯乙烯(PVC)、环氧大豆油(ESO)、硬脂酸盐压制成膜,通过FT-IR、XRD、DSC、万能试验机等探讨了合成工艺对ELMG结构的影响,以及ELMG的添加对PVC膜的性能的影响。研究结果表明:采用先缩酮反应,再酯化反应,最后环氧化反应可制得ELMG;ELMG对PVC结晶具有一定的破坏,且与ESO复配使用后效果得到显著提升;ELMG复配ESO可明显提高PVC薄膜的塑化性能,其中50%ELMG增塑的ELMG50/PVC薄膜的断裂伸长率为316.5%,达到了ESO/PVC薄膜的98%,拉伸强度为24.63 MPa,达到了ESO/PVC薄膜的89%。ELMG复配ESO使PVC薄膜的迁移性也得到了明显的改善,其中ELMG50/PVC薄膜在大豆油中的质量损失率为0.71%,仅为ESO/PVC薄膜的67%。

复合溶剂液化制备乙酰丙酸乙酯的碳同位素分馏

利用单体稳定同位素分析(CSIA)技术研究C3、C4植物源原料液化生成乙酰丙酸乙酯(EL)过程中碳稳定同位素分馏特征。实验结果表明,在反应时间15 min内,C3、C4植物源原料液化生成EL的反应速率为木薯淀粉>玉米淀粉,杨木纤维素(P-C)>玉米秸秆纤维素(CS-C),杨木>玉米秸秆,液化生成EL过程中碳同位素比值的分馏速率为C3植物源原料>C4植物源原料,两者之间存在着直接的线性关系,液化反应速率较大时,δ^(13)C值的变化速率也大。结合瑞利方程量化液化过程中EL的^(13)C碳稳定同位素的富集程度,得到不同原料液化过程中富集因子大小为ε>ε,ε_(CS-C)>ε_(P-C),ε>ε,表明液化过程中碳同位素的富集程度与原料的δ^(13)C值相关,液化程度越大,δ^(13)C值变化程度越大,通过追踪反应过程中的碳稳定同位素分馏变化就可以反映其液化程度。此外,^(13)C同位素富集在中间产物5-羟甲基糠醛(5-HMF)上,而在最终产物EL中相对较少;由于动力学同位素效应的存在,发生化学反应后,^(12)C同位素在EL中逐渐富集,^(13)C同位素富集在5-HMF中,说明在试验过程中5-HMF→EL的路径占优势。由此可知,CSIA可用于C3、C4植物源原料液化过程的研究。

双功能炭基固体酸的制备及其催化纤维二糖醇解

以壳聚糖为碳源,通过金属浸渍、高温炭化制备负载铁的含氮活性炭(ACN-Fe),再进一步水热磺化制备了一系列金属负载型双功能炭基固体酸(ACN-Fe-SO_(3)H),并将其应用于催化纤维二糖醇解反应,利用X射线衍射(XRD)、拉曼(Raman)光谱、红外(FT-IR)光谱、N_(2)吸附/脱附、X射线光电子能谱(XPS)、电感耦合等离子体发射光谱(ICP-OES)和酸碱滴定等手段对催化剂进行了详细的表征。研究结果显示:固体酸中的不饱和三价铁离子具有路易斯酸性,磺酸基具有布朗斯特酸性,炭化温度800℃下制备的固体酸(800-ACN-Fe-SO_(3)H)具有最强的酸性(酸度0.81 mmol/g)和最大的比表面积(85.7 m^(2)/g),催化性能最佳。800-ACN-Fe-SO_(3)H用量0.20 g时,在反应温度200℃,反应时间5 h的条件下,纤维二糖的转化率为99.6%,产物乙酰丙酸(LA)和乙酰丙酸甲酯(ML)产率分别为15.6%和62.1%。催化剂经过5次循环回收,纤维二糖的转化率为93.1%,LA和ML的总产率为51.1%,表明催化剂具有良好的重复使用性,此外还初步探索了纤维二糖醇解的反应机理。

Al_(2)(SO_(4))_(3)催化热解油转化生产酯类燃料

酸类、糖类等不稳定组分的存在是制约热解油直接用作生物燃料的主要因素。为了解决此问题,提出采用Al_(2)(SO_(4))_(3)催化剂将这些不稳定成分酯化为燃料类化合物的途径。首先,分别以单模型化合物左旋葡萄糖或乙酸为原料,考察各种金属硫酸盐催化其转化制备乙酰丙酸乙酯或乙酸乙酯的能力,筛选出催化性能最好的催化剂;其次,以左旋葡萄糖和乙酸的模型混合物为原料,探究Al_(2)(SO_(4))_(3)催化同时转化制备酯类的最佳反应条件;最后,以真实热解油为原料,验证Al_(2)(SO_(4))_(3)在最佳反应条件下催化酯化的可行性。结果表明,酯化后热解油中大部分酸、糖、醛消失,同时产生大量的酯和缩醛,酯类和缩醛类占改性热解油总色谱面积的39.5%。Al_(2)(SO_(4))_(3)能有效将热解油中的酸类、糖类等不稳定组分酯化为燃料类化合物,可为热解油转化制备生物燃料提供借鉴。

稀土修饰对Cu/Al_(2)O_(3)催化乙酰丙酸乙酯加氢性能的影响

生物质催化转化制大宗化学品符合低碳战略的重要研究方向,将纤维素衍生物乙酰丙酸乙酯转化为1,4-戊二醇是最具前景的技术路线之一。非贵金属铜基催化剂在该反应中表现出较好的活性,Cu/Al_(2)O_(3)在160℃、4 MPa H_(2)条件下催化乙酰丙酸乙酯氢解制1,4-戊二醇收率为50.8%,经稀土改性后催化剂的活性和选择性显著提升,其中CuNd0.25/Al_(2)O_(3)催化剂上获得1,4-戊二醇的收率高达92.7%。通过对催化剂性能以及X射线衍射(XRD)、透射电子显微镜(TEM)、氢气程序升温还原(H_(2)-TPR)、氢气程序升温脱附(NH3-TPD)和CO红外吸附(CO-DRIFT)等表征结果的分析发现,稀土元素的存在不仅改变了Cu活性中心的还原性质、分散度和电子结构,还改变了催化剂表面酸、碱性位点的分布。稀土元素的修饰既促进了催化剂表面反应物的吸附与活化,又抑制了目标产物1,4-戊二醇的脱水副反应,从而提高了活性和选择性。

复合氧化物负载杂多酸催化剂上乙酰丙酸加氢性能

采用浸渍法制备了铜锌铁复合氧化物负载硅钨酸催化剂,用XRD,BET以及SEM等手段表征了催化剂的物化性质,并考察了催化剂催化乙酰丙酸(LA)加氢的性能。结果表明,硅钨酸的加入可以明显提升催化剂在LA加氢反应中的活性。其中以CuZnFe-30SiW为催化剂,水为溶剂,在反应温度180℃,反应时间6 h,初始氢气压力4 MPa的条件下,LA的转化率超过95%,γ-戊内酯的收率达到85%以上。

基于等离子气化的城市固废制备乙酰丙酸系统及性能评估

提出了一种利用城市固体废弃物制备乙酰丙酸(Levulinic Acid,LA)的系统,并通过Aspen Plus进行建模。通过回收LA的催化剂与萃取剂并使用固体残留物(生物质碳)、沼气和固废中的衍生燃料作为热源,最大限度地减少废物产生。通过等离子气化技术耦合厌氧发酵技术为系统供热。对所提出系统的性能进行了评估。结果表明:该系统在技术上是可行的,有较高能源转化效率和较低的环境污染,等离子气化效率为69.94%,净现值达189483万元,动态回收周期为5.04 a,拥有0.37的内部收益率。

生物质平台分子制备γ-戊内酯的研究进展

综述了近年来以生物质平台分子乙酰丙酸(酯)和糠醛为原料制取γ-戊内酯的研究工作。详细讨论了各种类型的催化剂对反应性能的影响,并对相关催化机理进行了分析和归纳;最后对生物质平台分子催化转化制取γ-戊内酯的发展前景进行了展望。