Synthesis of ethyl acetate by esterification of acetic acid with ethanol over a heteropolyacid on montmorillonite K10

In present work, liquid phase esterification of acetic acid with ethanol over dodecatungestophosphoric acid (DTPA) supported on K10 montmorillonite was systematically studied and optimization of process parameters was carried out. The 20% m/m DTPA/K10 was found to be the optimum catalyst with 90% acetic acid conversion and 100% ethyl acetate selectivity. The study was also explored to see the feasibility of 20% m/m DTPA/K10 as a catalyst for the alkylation of acetic acid with other alcohols like methanol, iso-propanol and n-butanol. The 20% m/m DTPA/K10 has shown increased activity with the increase in carbon number, at the same alcohol reflux. The results are novel.     

Production of octyl levulinate biolubricant over modified H-ZSM-5： Optimization by response surface methodology

The present study highlighted the use of modified H-ZSM-5 （Meso-HZ-5） as heterogeneous catalyst for the synthesis of octyl levulinate biolubricant by catalytic esterification of biomass derived renewable levulinic acid （LA） with n-octanol. The process variables such as catalyst loading （X1）, n-octanol to LA molar ratio （X2） and reaction temperature （X3） were optimized through response surface methodology （RSM）, using Box-Behnken model. Analysis of variance was performed to determine the adequacy and significance of the quadratic model. The yield of octyl levulinate was obtained to be 99% at optimum process parameters. The developed quadratic model was found to be adequate and statistically accurate with correlation value （R2） of 0.9971 to predict the yield of octyl levulinate biolubricant. The study was also extended on the validation of theoretical and experimental data, including catalyst reusability.     

Production of octyl levulinate biolubricant over modified H-ZSM-5: Optimization by response surface methodology

The present study highlighted the use of modified H-ZSM-5 (Meso-HZ-5) as heterogeneous catalyst for the synthesis of octyl levulinate biolubricant by catalytic esterification of biomass derived renewable levulinic acid (LA) with n-octanol. The process variables such as catalyst loading (X₁), n-octanol to LA molar ratio (X₂) and reaction temperature (X₃) were optimized through response surface methodology (RSM), using Box-Behnken model. Analysis of variance was performed to determine the adequacy and significance of the quadratic model. The yield of octyl levulinate was obtained to be 99% at optimum process parameters. The developed quadratic model was found to be adequate and statistically accurate with correlation value (R²) of 0.9971 to predict the yield of octyl levulinate biolubricant. The study was also extended on the validation of theoretical and experimental data, including catalyst reusability.     

磺化水热碳催化乙酰丙酸酯化生成戊酮酸乙酯(英文)

The synthesis of carbon-based, heterogeneous sulphonic catalysts for the production of levulinate esters. Hydrothermal treatment at moderated temperatures was employed to generate highly functional carbonaceous materials, referred to as hydrothermal carbons (HTCs), from both glucose, cellulose and rye straw. The products were sulfonated to generate solid acid-catalysts. Characterisation of the as-synthesised materials as well as catalyst activity tests were performed. SEM images indicate the micrometre-sized particles present in both HTCs were largely unaffected by sulfonation, although cellulose-derived HTC displayed signs of inadequate hydrolysis. FT-IR spectroscopy and elemental analysis confirmed successful incorporation of sulphonic groups. 13C solid state NMR, in addition to TGA, elucidated the carbons’ structural composition and supported the common-ly-proposed hydrothermal carbonisation mechanism. Finally, the catalysts were tested via levulinic acid-ethanol esterification and gave high conversion and ester-selectivities ( 90%).     

High-Performance Supported Ru Catalysts for the Aqueous-Phase Hydrogenation of Levulinic Acid to γ-Valerolactone

γ-Valerolactone (GVL) can be obtained by efficient hydrogenation of levulinic acid using ruthenium-based catalysts in an aqueous medium. This paper reports an in-depth study on the activity and selectivity of Ru catalysts supported on zirconia-alumina, focusing on the effect of Ru concentration (0.5, 1.5 and 3 wt. % of Ru) and the selection of operational reaction variables. The results showed that the activity strongly depends on the number and oxidation state of the supported ruthenium particles. The most active catalyst, Ru3/ZA, presented the highest number of nanometric particles of zerovalent Ru and the highest number of acid sites. This catalyst gave ca. 100 % selectivity towards GVL, at high conversion of levulinic acid (over 99 %) under the best operating conditions evaluated (120 °C, 3 MPa H₂ pressure, 1 h of reaction, and 0.1 g of catalyst). In addition, this catalyst kept high levels of conversion and selectivity after successive reuse cycles.     

生物质转化合成新能源化学品乙酰丙酸酯

生物质是唯一可替代化石资源获取液态燃料和化学品的可再生资源,近年来由生物质转化合成乙酰丙酸酯引起了研究者们越来越广泛的关注。乙酰丙酸酯是一类重要的化学中间体和新能源化学品,具有高的反应特性和广泛的工业应用价值。目前开发的从生物质资源出发转化合成乙酰丙酸酯的潜在合成途径可概括为4种:直接酸催化醇解法、经乙酰丙酸酯化、经5-氯甲基糠醛醇解和经糠醇醇解。本文分别介绍了这4种转化合成途径的化学反应过程及最新研究进展,从反应合成工艺、催化体系、经济可行性等方面评述了各自的特点与发展趋势,并分析了目前工业规模转化生物质合成乙酰丙酸酯仍面临的一些科学难点。最后,对今后该领域的研究前景进行了展望。     

Synthesis,isolation and characterization of methyl levulinate from cellulose catalyzed by extremely low concentration acid

A direct synthesis of methyl levulinate from cellulose alcoholysis in methanol medium under mild condition (180–210 °C) catalyzed by extremely low concentration sulfuric acid (≤0.01 mol/L) and the product isolation were developed in this study. Effects of different process variables towards the catalytic performance were performed as a function of reaction time. The results indicated that sulfuric acid concentration, temperature and initial cellulose concentration had significant effects on the synthesis of methyl levulinate. An optimized yield of around 50% was achieved at 210 °C for 120 min with sulfuric acid concentration of 0.01 mol/L and initial cellulose concentration below 100 g/L. The resulting product mixture was isolated by a distillation technique that combines an atmospheric distillation with a vacuum distillation where n-dodecane was added to help distill the heavy fraction. The light fraction including mainly methanol could be reused as the reaction medium without any substantial change in the yield of methyl levulinate. The chemical composition and structural of lower heavy fraction were characterized by GC/MS, FTIR, ¹H-NMR and ¹³C-NMR techniques. Methyl levulinate was found to be a major ingredient of lower heavy fraction with the content over 96%. This pathway is efficient, environmentally benign and economical for the production of pure levulinate esters from cellulose.     

Optimization of the process of chemical hydrolysis of cellulose to glucose

We studied the acid hydrolysis of cellulose in an aqueous medium with the aim of maximizing glucose yield and minimizing the formation of by-products. The influence of reaction parameters such as temperature, acid concentration, acid strength and type of cellulose precursor on glucose yield was investigated. We observed that moderate reaction temperature and low acid concentration resulted in the highest glucose yield with little formation of levulinic acid. Strong acid (pKa < 0) is required to achieve high glucose yield. The crystallite size of the cellulose also affects its reactivity; cellulose with higher crystallite size is more resistant to hydrolysis catalyzed by acid. The highest selectivity for glucose over levulinic acid was recorded at a reaction temperature of 413 K and a sulfuric acid concentration in the range of 0.2–0.5 mol/L. Under these reaction conditions, no levulinic acid was detected, but the glucose yield reached 20 % in only 2 h.     

Esterification and ketalization of levulinic acid with desilicated zeolite β and pseudo-homogeneous model for reaction kinetics

To maximize the production of esters (E), keto (K) and keto-ester (KE) by esterification and ketalization of levulinic acid (LA) has been reacted using diols such as 1,2-propane diol (PDOL),1,2-ethane diol (EDOL), and 1,2,3-propane triol or glycerol (TRIOL) with desilicated Hβ. This work aims to assess the conversion and selectivity for the production of esters using conventional and microwave-irradiated (MWI) reactors. Catalysts characterizations were performed using NH₃-temperature programme desorption, Brunauer, Emmett and Teller surface area (BET), Barrett, Joyner, and Halenda (BJH), scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, and dynamic light scattering. Operating parameters such as reaction temperature (170–180°C), reaction time (20–80 min), feed composition (LA:PDOL/EDOL/TRIOL, 1:8/10/12), and microwave energy (300–500 watt) have been systematically investigated. Note that 99–100% conversion was achieved with the product selectivity of E (40%), K (30%), and KE (30%) with1,2-EDOL; E (56%), K (2%), and KE (17%) with 1,2-PDOL; E (69%), K(0%), and KE (22%) with TRIOL using D-Hβ as a solid catalyst in an MWI reactor. Reaction paths and kinetics were studied using pseudo-homogeneous (PH) model.     

Separation of fuel additive levulinic acid using toluene,xylene, and octanol from water stream

Levulinic acid is an important fuel additive due to its multifunctionality with keto and carboxylic functional groups. It also carries the potential to produce some other fuel additives viz. γ-valerolactone, ethyl levulinate, and 2-methyl tetrahydrofuran. These substances can be combined with petroleum-derived transportation fuels similarly to bioethanol without modifying in engines. The wastewater and solid wastes from various industries contain organic acids in the downstreams. The recovery and separation of organic acids from wastewater is challenging due to its dilute concentrations and other issues. The presented study involves the separation of levulinc acid from the waste-water stream using various solvents such as toluene, xylene, and octanol at 25°C. The experimental results were described in terms of the partition constant (P_c), dimerization constant (D_c), distribution coefficients (K_D), and extraction efficiency (E_η). The present study can significantly contribute to the recovery of levulinic acid as fuel additive levulinic with low-cost process.     

Efficient production of ethyl levulinate from cassava over Al_2(SO_4)_3 catalyst in ethanol–water system

One-pot achievement of ethyl levulinate from cassava was conducted in ethanol-water system over several simple sulfate salt catalysts.Al_2(SO_4)_3 catalyst had the best performance in synthesizing ethyl levulinate comparing with those of a series of sulfate salts.The highest yields of ethyl levulinate was up to39.27%as well as 7.78%levulinate acid when cassava was catalyzed in ethanol medium by adding 10 wt%water.~(13)C and ~1H NMR spectroscopic investigations confirmed that isomerization of glucose to fructose over Al_2(SO_4)_3 catalyst is an important step in producing ethyl levulinate and levulinate acid.Due to aggregations of Al~(3+) under hydrothermal conditions,tiny amount of Al~(3+) were detected in filtrate at the percentage of 0.32%even if in absolute water.Bronsted and Lewis acids could improve the yield of ethyl levulinate and levulinate acid by synergistic effect.All results suggested that A1_2(SO_4)_3 was a simple and efficient catalyst for ethyl levulinate and levulinate acid production.     

THE EFFECT OF LEVULINIC ACID ON THE LIGHT INDUCED DEVELOPMENT OF PHOTOSYSTEM I AND II ACTIVITIES IN GREENING MAIZE LEAVES*

Photosystem I and Photosystem II activities were measured in chloroplasts isolated after 0–20 h illumination from etiolated maize leaves in which chlorophyll synthesis was specifically inhibited by levulinic acid. In control leaves not treated with levulinic acid, Photosystem I activity/chlorophyll developed rapidly during the first 2h in light, then fell off, and reached a constant level after 6h of illumination. In levulinic acid treated leaves, in which chlorophyll accumulation was inhibited up to 60%, a similar initial rise in Photosystem I activity was observed. However, the decrease in activity was much slower and continued for at least 20 h. The development of Photosystem I activity calculated on a leaf fresh weight basis was similar for control leaves or leaves treated with levulinic acid. This indicates that development of Photosystem I activity may not be related to chlorophyll accumulation during greening. Photosystem II activity/chlorophyll in leaves treated with or without levulinic acid increased similarly during the first 6h and then remained constant. Activity of Photosystem II per leaf fresh weight increased linearly, after the first h, for 20 h in the control leaves; in levulinic acid treated leaves this development was reduced by about 60%. Thus, development of Photosystem II activity can be related to chlorophyll accumulation. SDS gel electrophoresis of plastid membranes from control leaves illuminated for 12 h showed the presence of chlorophyll-protein complex I as well as Chl-protein 11; in the case of levulinic acid treated leaves only Chl-protein complex I was detectable, while Chl-protein complex II was markedly reduced.     

Solubilities of carbon dioxide in the eutectic mixture of levulinic acid (or furfuryl alcohol) and choline chloride

The solubilities of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the renewable deep eutectic solvents (DESs) containing levulinic acid (or furfuryl alcohol) and choline chloride were determined at temperatures (303.15, 313.15, 323.15, and 333.15) K and pressures up to 600.0 kPa using an isochoric saturation method. The mole ratios of levulinic acid (or furfuryl alcohol) to choline chloride were fixed at 3:1, 4:1 and 5:1. Standard Gibbs free energy, dissolution enthalpy and dissolution entropy were calculated from Henry’s law constant of CO₂ in the DESs. Results indicated that levulinic acid based DESs are more effective to capture CO₂ than furfuryl alcohol based ones. The solubility of CO₂ in the DESs increased with increasing mole ratio of levulinic acid (or furfuryl alcohol) to choline chloride as well as pressure and decreased with increasing temperature.     

液膜萃取法回收磷酸体系中的微量镧

通过斜率分析法研究了P204和TOPO从磷酸体系中液液萃取微量镧的反应机制和热力学,推测出一种可能的反应历程和萃合物结构,得到萃取反应式和反应的平衡常数K=104.502,焓变ΔH=-13.02 kJ.mol-1,自由能ΔG=-25.686 kJ.mol-1,熵变ΔS=0.0425kJ.(mol.K)-1。在液液萃取反应机制研究的基础上,采用液膜萃取法进行磷酸体系中微量镧的富集回收研究,考察了载体P204(2%～10%w/w)和TOPO(1%～10%w/w)、表面活性剂磺化聚丁二烯LYF(1%～10%w/w)、内萃取剂HCl(1～5 mol.L-1)和水乳体积比A/O(2:1～7:1)对液膜萃取收率及稳定性的影响。在最优条件下,可回收94.10%～95.94%的镧,并且膜溶胀率为8%～17%,破损率为0.45%～1.93%,能够维持较好的液膜稳定性。研究结果对磷酸中的微量稀土镧回收利用具有一定的参考价值。     

Viscosities of oxalic acid and its salts in water and binary aqueous mixtures of tetrahydrofuran at different temperatures

Relative viscosities for the solutions of oxalic acid and its salts, viz. ammonium oxalate, sodium oxalate and potassium oxalate, at different concentrations have been determined in water and in binary aqueous mixtures of tetrahydrofuran (THF) [5, 10, 15 and 20% by weight of THF] at 298.15 K, and in water and in 5% (w/w) THF + water at five different temperatures. The data have been evaluated using the Jones-Dole equation and the obtained parameters have been interpreted in terms of solute-solute and solute-solvent interactions. The activation parameters of viscous flow have been obtained which depicts the mechanism of viscous flow. The oxalic acid and its salts behave as structure breakers in water and in binary aqueous mixtures of THF.     

Raney-Ni catalyzed conversion of levulinic acid to 5-methyl-2-pyrrolidone using ammonium formate as the H and N source

Renewable biomass based levulinic acid was converted to 5-methyl-2-pyrrolidone in 94% yield by a Raney-Ni catalyzed process using ammonium formate in aqueous medium and heating at 180?°C for 3?h. The Raney-Ni could be reused for four catalytic cycles with about 10% loss in catalytic activity. In a similar reaction levulinic acid could be converted 1-substituted-5-methyl-2-pyrrolidones in 90–95% yield by using a mixture of formic acid and the corresponding primary amine.     

Kinetics of esterification of the levulinic acid with n‐hexanol,n‐octanol,and 2‐ethylhexanol in the presence of methanesulfonic acid as a catalyst under nonisothermal conditions

The levulinic acid was esterified with alcohol at an alcohol to acid molar ratio of 3:1, 5:1, and 10:1 in the presence of a 0.1 wt% methanesulfonic acid catalyst. During esterification, the temperature was changed linearly from 373 to 428 K and its average change was 4.5 K/min. The authors stated that reactions were of second order and that the activation energy (E) decreased from 61 to 46 kJ/mol in the following alcohol sequence: n‐hexanol > n‐octanol > 2‐ethylhexanol. The fitting errors varied between 3.8% and 6.4%. The time of experiment carried out under nonisothermal condition is five to 15 times shorter than that conducted under isothermal conditions. A smaller number of experimental series also determines a significantly lower cost of such research. The results of such study are the precise form of the kinetic equation, which is indispensable in design and optimization of industrial‐scale chemical reactors.     

Trace anion determination in concentrated hydrofluoric acid solutions by two-dimensional ion chromatography I. Matrix elimination by ion-exclusion chromatography

Since years, ion exclusion chromatography (ICE) has been the standard method to separate strong acid analyte anions from concentrated weak acid matrices such as hydrofluoric acid (HF). In this work, the commercially available IonPac ICE-AS 1 column was used to separate trace levels of chloride, nitrate, sulfate and phosphate from HF solutions at 20% (w/w). The efficiency of the separation was studied in more detail using techniques such as ion chromatography (IC), inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and ICP-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). For 20% (w/w) HF solutions and at a water carrier flow-rate of 0.50 ml/min, the cut window was set from 8.5 to 14.5 min. Under these conditions, analyte recoveries of better than 90% were obtained for chloride, nitrate and sulfate, but only about 75% for phosphate. The HF rejection efficiency was better than 99.9%. It was found that the ICP techniques, measuring total element levels and not species, yielded significantly higher recoveries for phosphorus and sulfur compared to IC. Evidence will be given that part of the added phosphorus (approximately 15% for an addition of 10 mg PO4/kg) is present as mono-fluorophosphoric acid (H2FPO3). In the case of sulfate, the difference between IC and ICP-MS could be attributed to an important matrix effect from the residual HF concentration.     

Interference by methyl levulinate in determination of total fat in low-fat, high-sugar products by gas chromatographic fatty acid methyl ester (GC-FAME) analysis.

Gas chromatographic fatty acid methyl ester (GC-FAME) analyses of some acid-hydrolyzed foods revealed a large peak that did not correspond to any FAME standards. The unknown peak eluted just after the C12 FAME. If the fatty acid response factor and the conversion factor for the nearest calibrated peak (C12 FAME) were used to determine the total fat, the resulting total fat determination was much higher than expected. This peak was present only in acid-hydrolyzed samples and was absent in extracts obtained with supercritical CO2 or solvents without acid hydrolysis. The compound was isolated, analyzed by mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and proved by synthesis to be methyl-4-oxopentanoate (methyl levulinate). Its source was determined to be sugar in the product formula. Levulinic acid is produced by acid hydrolysis of sugar and is transesterified by BF3 in methanol to methyl levulinate. Although methyl levulinate may appear in the GC analyses of any acid-hydrolyzed products containing sugar, if the ratio of fat to sugar is high, the impact of methyl levulinate on fat determination would be small. On the other hand, the presence of methyl levulinate in analyses of low-fat, high-sugar products is potentially problematic if not recognized, although GC analysis can account for the presence of this compound.     

Sulfonated porous biomass-derived carbon with superior recyclability for synthesizing ethyl levulinate biofuel

The synthesis of ethyl levulinate (EL) via esterification of levulinic acid (LA) with ethanol, which can be derived from biomass, has become an attractive topic since EL can be applied in many fields, such as fuel additives for petroleum and biodiesel, food additives and fragrance. Herein, the sulfonated porous carbon catalysts derived from the rinds of corn stalk biomass wastes were prepared by using sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid as the sulfonating agent and activator, respectively. The preparation parameters were optimized based on the catalytic activity for LA esterification with ethanol and the acid density of the corresponding catalysts. Also, various reaction factors were optimized to improve the catalytic efficiency over the optimal sulfonated corn stalk-derived carbon (s-CSC). Under the conditions of reaction temperature 80 °C, catalyst dosage 5 wt%, ethanol-to-LA molar ratio 5.0:1 and reaction time 8 h, the LA conversion reached 94% and 93% catalyzed by s-CSC and the optimal porous catalyst (s-p-CSC), respectively. Noticeably, benefitting from the hierarchical porous structure with large surface area, s-p-CSC exhibited much better recyclability than s-CSC. This work offers a highly effective solid acid catalyst for the synthesis of biofuel.