Valorization of cigarette butts for synthesis of levulinic acid as top value-added chemicals

• Published in: Scientific reports 2021-08, Vol.11 (1), p.15775-15775, Article 15775
• Main Authors: Laurenza, Amelita G., Losito, Onofrio, Casiello, Michele, Fusco, Caterina, Nacci, Angelo, Pantone, Vincenzo, D’Accolti, Lucia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 639/638; 704/172; Acids; Catalysts; Cellulose; Chemical industry; Humanities and Social Sciences; Intermediates; multidisciplinary; Phosphoric acid; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Sludge; Sulfuric acid
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-95361-4

Unprecedented in the literature, levulinic acid (LA), one of the top value-added intermediates of chemical industry, is obtained from cigarette butts as cellulose feedstock by means of a one-pot hydrothermal process carried out at 200 °C for 2 h and catalysed by phosphoric acid. The protocol avoids the use of more aggressive and toxic H 2 SO 4 and HCl, that are generally employed on several cellulose sources (e.g. sludge paper), thus minimizing corrosion phenomena of plants. Neither chemical pre-treatment of butts nor specific purification procedure of LA are required. Notably, by simply modifying acid catalyst (e.g. using CH 3 COOH), another top value-added fine chemical such as 5-hydroxymethylfuraldehyde (HMF) is obtained, thus widening the scope of the method. Being cigarette filters a waste available in quantities of megatonnes per year, they represent an unlimited at no cost source of cellulose, thus enabling the up-scale to an industrial level of LA production.