Production of gamma-butyrolactone from biomass-derived 1,4-butanediol over novel copper-silica nanocomposite

gamma-Butyrolactone was produced highly selectively from biomass-derived 1,4-butanediol by vapor-phase dehydrocyclization over novel copper-silica nanocomposite catalyst. Compared with usual Cu(12)/SiO(2), the highly Cu-loaded SiO(2) nanocomposite (80 wt%) exhibited high catalyst performance with 98% yield on 400 h stream without significant deactivation even in the absence of H(2).