Catalytic production of γ-valerolactone, a biofuel precursor, from furfural in one-pot: Synergistic effect between Zr and Sn

This work presents for the first time the synergistic effect of tin and zirconium for the one pot transformation of furfural into ?-valerolactone. Furfural is a versatile product that can be easily produced from lignocellulosic biomass and can be transformed into valuable products such as ?-valerolactone, which can be used to produce different types of chemicals, fuels and as a green solvent. The transformation of furfural into ?-valerolactone in one-pot has been studied using Sn and Zr based catalysts supported on treated zeolite Y. These catalysts were characterized by N2 adsorption, IR, UV-vis, XRD, TEM, pyridine adsorption-IR and XPS in order to determine their physicochemical properties. For all the studied compositions, mixed bimetallic Sn-Zr catalysts led to higher ?-valerolactone yields than those monometallic Sn or Zr catalysts. The bimetallic catalyst with a Sn:Zr at. ratio of 1:1 achieved the best performance, reaching a yield to ?-valerolactone of ca. 80 % after only 1 h of reaction at 180 ? using 2-propanol as a hydrogen source. The best performance of the bimetallic catalyst has been related to the broad dispersion of the metals on the surface of the support, forming mixed dispersed Zr-O-Sn surface species, favoring an adequate amount of Lewis and Bronsted acid sites. Moreover, for this catalyst, stability was very high, showing constant yield values to ?-valerolactone after at least 4 uses, which can be related to the high and stable interaction between the surface metal species and the support.

Automated summary

This study demonstrates the synergistic effect of tin and zirconium for the one-pot transformation of furfural into γ-valerolactone. Furfural, a versatile product derived from lignocellulosic biomass, can be converted into valuable γ-valerolactone, which has various applications in chemicals, fuels, and solvents.