Vapor phase esterification of levulinic acid over ZrO2/SBA-15 catalyst

ZrO2/SBA-15 catalysts with different ZrO2 loadings prepared by impregnation method were tested for the esterification of levulinic acid in a fixed -bed reactor in vapor phase conditions at atmospheric pressure for the first time and found that the catalyst with 7 weight percent ZrO2 exhibited 100% conversion of levulinic acid and 96% selectivity to methyl levulinate due to the presence of more number of moderate acidic sites. It is interesting to observe the formation of y-valerolactone as the alcohol chain length increases at the expense of alkyl levulinate, through MPV reduction mechanism. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.