Issue 5, 2015

Direct conversion of carbohydrates to γ-valerolactone facilitated by a solvent effect

Abstract

The carbohydrates (cellulose, starch, inulin, maltose, sucrose, glucose and fructose) were converted efficiently into γ-valerolactone (GVL) over combined H3PW12O40 and Ru/TiO2 catalysts under mild conditions. The basicity of oxygen-containing solvents had a remarkable effect on the acid strength of H3PW12O40, which resulted in great variation in the yield of GVL. H3PW12O40 was more effective in 20 vol% water/γ-butyrolactone than in pure water and other water/organic solvents (methanol, ethanol and 1,4-dioxane). GVL yields for inulin and fructose reached 70.5 mol% and 67.6 mol% respectively. Meanwhile, a GVL yield of 40.5 mol% was achieved for cellulose. In addition, a practical method for catalyst recycling and GVL separation was developed by adding sugar into the reaction mixture. H3PW12O40 and Ru/TiO2 maintained their activity after three recycling runs.

Graphical abstract: Direct conversion of carbohydrates to γ-valerolactone facilitated by a solvent effect

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
18 Jan 2015
Accepted
26 Mar 2015
First published
26 Mar 2015

Green Chem., 2015,17, 3084-3089

Direct conversion of carbohydrates to γ-valerolactone facilitated by a solvent effect

J. Cui, J. Tan, T. Deng, X. Cui, H. Zheng, Y. Zhu and Y. Li, Green Chem., 2015, 17, 3084 DOI: 10.1039/C5GC00110B

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements