Process for producing levulinic acid, which includes a step of catalytic conversion of a pentose (in particular xylose or arabinose) into furfural in an organic solvent having a boiling temperature from 600C to 220°C. followed b a step of reduction of Furtural to FurfuryI alcohol. In the presence of a Lewis acid a catalyst and a protic solvent. Eventually. Furturyl alcohol is converted into levulinic acid directly or indirectly. by preliminary conversion into a levulinic acid ester and its subsequent hydrolysis. This process has a reduced environmental impact and guarantees satisfactory process yields on an industrial scale. In particular, the process allows to reduce as much as possible the formation of humins, which require complex and costly purification processes and involve a considerable reduction in the levulinic acid yield.

PROCESS FOR PRODUCING LEVULINIC ACID

Alessandro Massi;Daniele Ragno;Graziano Di Carmine;Costanza Leonardi;Olga Bortolini
2021

Abstract

Process for producing levulinic acid, which includes a step of catalytic conversion of a pentose (in particular xylose or arabinose) into furfural in an organic solvent having a boiling temperature from 600C to 220°C. followed b a step of reduction of Furtural to FurfuryI alcohol. In the presence of a Lewis acid a catalyst and a protic solvent. Eventually. Furturyl alcohol is converted into levulinic acid directly or indirectly. by preliminary conversion into a levulinic acid ester and its subsequent hydrolysis. This process has a reduced environmental impact and guarantees satisfactory process yields on an industrial scale. In particular, the process allows to reduce as much as possible the formation of humins, which require complex and costly purification processes and involve a considerable reduction in the levulinic acid yield.
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.

I documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11392/2502220
 Attenzione

Attenzione! I dati visualizzati non sono stati sottoposti a validazione da parte dell'ateneo

Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact