Selective Hydrogenation of Levulinic Acid to Gamma- Valerolactone Using Polymer-Based Ru-Containing Catalysts

Abstract

This work is devoted to the investigation of the possibility of use of ruthenium-containing catalysts on the basis of polymeric matrix of hypercrosslinked polystyrene (HPS) in hydrogenation of levulinic acid to gamma- valerolactone, which is a semi-product for obtaining of liquid fuel components. Catalyst 5 %-Ru/MN100 was shown to allow carrying out the hydrogenation of levulinic acid in aqueous medium with high yields of gamma- valerolactone (higher than 99 %) and it can compete with traditional catalyst 5 %-Ru/C. It is noteworthy that synthesized HPS-based catalyst has high activity, and thus the necessity of addition in reaction mixture of acidic co-catalysts is absent.