One-pot synthesis of levulinic acid from cellulose in ionic liquids

Yue Shen; Jian-Kui Sun; Yu-Xuan Yi; Bo Wang; Feng Xu; Run-Cang Sun

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2015.05.080

One-pot synthesis of levulinic acid from cellulose in ionic liquids

Bioresour Technol. 2015 Sep:192:812-6. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2015.05.080. Epub 2015 Jun 3.

Authors

Yue Shen¹, Jian-Kui Sun¹, Yu-Xuan Yi¹, Bo Wang², Feng Xu¹, Run-Cang Sun¹

Affiliations

¹ Beijing Key Laboratory of Lignocellulosic Chemistry, College of Materials Science and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, PR China.
² Beijing Key Laboratory of Lignocellulosic Chemistry, College of Materials Science and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, PR China. Electronic address: mzlwb@bjfu.edu.cn.

PMID: 26055443
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2015.05.080

Abstract

A simple and effective route for the production of levulinic acid (LA) from cellulose has been developed in SO3H-functionalized ionic liquids. The effects of ionic liquid structures, reaction conditions and combination of metal chlorides with ILs on the yield of LA were investigated, where the highest yield of 39.4% was obtained for 120 min in the presence of 1-(4-sulfonic acid) butyl-3-methylimidazolium hydrogen sulphate ([BSMim]HSO4) with addition of H2O. The catalytic activities of ionic liquids depended on the anions and decreased in the order: CF3SO3(-)>HSO4(-) > OAc(-), which was in good agreement with their acidity order. The ILs play a dual solvent-acid role for the cellulose conversion into LA and exhibited favorable catalytic activity over four repeated runs.

Keywords: Cellulose; Degradation; Ionic liquids; Levulinic acid.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Cellulose / chemistry*
Ionic Liquids / chemistry*
Levulinic Acids / chemical synthesis*
Levulinic Acids / isolation & purification*

Substances

Ionic Liquids
Levulinic Acids
Cellulose
levulinic acid