Highly efficient catalyst for the decarbonylation of lactic acid to acetaldehyde

The gas phase decarbonylation of lactic acid was performed over various silica-supported heteropolyacids. The obtained performances were, by far, higher than those previously described in the literature. In particular, the best results were obtained for silicotungstic acid-based catalysts, which showed very high yields of acetaldehyde (81-83%) at high lactic acid conversion (up to 91%).