Esterification of levulinic acid via catalytic and photocatalytic processes using fluorinated titanium dioxide materials

Abstract

This study evaluated the synthesis, characterization, and activity of fluorinated titanium dioxide materials (TiO2-F 1% and TiO2-F 5%) in-situ modified by the sol-gel method in the esterification reaction of levulinic acid conducted by catalytic and photocatalytic processes. The physicochemical properties of the materials were determined by X-ray diffraction, UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, thermal analysis, and pyridine adsorption. It was found that the inclusion of fluoride anion causes a decrease in the levulinic acid conversion by photocatalytic reaction; however, in the catalytic activation, a slight increase in the conversion using the fluoride materials was observed. Finally, the reaction in the presence of halogenated solvents (CCl4) by photolysis reaction favors a conversion of 100% in 1h.

Keywords

• Catalysis
• photocatalysis
• levulinic acid
• esterification
• TiO2-F