Sulfonated carbon-catalyzed deamination of alanine under hydrothermal conditions

Here, the catalytic effects of sixteen types of solid acid/base additives on the deamination of alanine under hydrothermal conditions at 90-150 degrees C were examined. As a result, porous sulfonated carbon (FCC-P) showed the highest catalytic activity, which was attributed to the high contents of multiple functional groups like sulfonyl and oxygen functional groups. Using FCC-P as the catalyst, the parameters including the additive amount and alanine solution concentration were optimized to be 0.5 g and >= 50 mmol/L, respectively, and the effects of temperature and time were studied detailedly. At 150 degrees C for 60 min, the deamination yield and alanine conversion achieved to 20.0% and 51.0%, respectively, with the production yield of ammonium at 7.6%. The reusability of two types of sulfonated carbon catalysts was examined. Finally, FCC-P was applied to amino acids including glycine, valine, leucine, and serine, and showed high catalytic activity for each hydrothermal deamination reaction.

Automated summary

The study identified porous sulfonated carbon as the most effective catalyst for the deamination of alanine under hydrothermal conditions. By optimizing parameters such as additive amount and alanine concentration, as well as exploring the effects of temperature and time, significant deamination yield and alanine conversion were achieved at 150 degrees C. Furthermore, the sulfonated carbon catalyst showed promising catalytic activity for other amino acids as well.