Journal
APPLIED CATALYSIS A-GENERAL
Volume 466, Issue -, Pages 116-122Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.apcata.2013.06.035
Keywords
Sulfonic acids; Levulinic acid; Alkyl levulinates; Fuel formulation; Acid catalysis
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Funding
- Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness [CTQ2011-28216-C02-01]
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Sulfonic mesoporous silicas have demonstrated an outstanding catalytic performance in the esterification of levulinic acid with different alcohols to produce alkyl levulinates, a family of chemicals considered to be excellent oxygenated fuel extenders for gasoline, diesel and biodiesel. Catalyst screening indicated that propylsulfonic acid-modified SBA-15 material was the most active one, among tested materials, due to a combination of moderately strong sulfonic acid sites with relative high surface hydrophobicity. Under optimized reaction conditions (T=117 degrees C, ethanol/levulinic acid molar ratio = 4.86/1 and catalyst/levulinic acid = 7 wt%) almost 100% of levulinic acid conversion was achieved after 2 h of reaction, being negligible the presence of levulinic acid by-products or ethers coming from intermolecular dehydration of alcohols. The catalyst has been reused, without any regeneration treatment, up to three times keeping almost the high initial activity. Interestingly, a close catalytic performance to that achieved using ethanol has been obtained with bulkier alcohols. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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