Towards the Efficient Development of Homogeneous Catalytic Transformation to γ-Valerolactone from Biomass-Derived Platform Chemicals

• Published in: ChemCatChem Vol. 6; no. 12; pp. 3360 - 3365
• Main Authors: Dutta Chowdhury, Abhishek, Jackstell, Ralf, Beller, Matthias
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim WILEY-VCH Verlag 01.12.2014; WILEY‐VCH Verlag
• Subjects: biomass; homogeneous catalysis; ligand effects; oxygen heterocycles; ruthenium
• ISSN: 1867-3880; 1867-3899
• DOI: 10.1002/cctc.201402548

Recent efforts focused on the production of selected chemicals from biomass as an effective approach to replace fossil feedstocks. Among them, transformation of the biogenic platform molecule levulinic acid to γ‐valerolactone has been an extensively studied reaction. Although this transformation can be achieved by heterogeneous catalysis, there exists also a strong interest for effective homogeneous catalysis that can operate selectively under milder and sustainable conditions. Herein, we report the utilization of various triphos‐analogue ligands that in the presence of Ru(acac)3 (acac=acetylacetonate) lead to highly efficient γ‐valerolactone production (yield up to 95 %). Excellent catalyst turnover numbers (up to 75 855) and turnover frequencies (up to 1382 h−1) were accomplished. Practically sustainable in every way: The practical production of γ‐valerolactone (GVL) is described from the biomass‐derived platform chemicals methyl levulinate and levulinic acid using three different ruthenium–triphos‐based catalyst systems under optimized reaction conditions. acac=Acetylacetonate, TON=turnover number, TOF=turnover frequency.