Chemical conversion of biomass-derived hexose sugars to levulinic acid over sulfonic acid-functionalized graphene oxide catalysts

• Published in: Green chemistry : an international journal and green chemistry resource : GC 2013-01, Vol.15 (10), p.2935-2943
• Main Authors: UPARE, Pravin P, YOON, Ji-Woong, MI YEON KIM, KANG, Hyo-Yoon, DONG WON HWANG, YOUNG KYU HWANG, KUNG, Harold H, CHANG, Jong-San
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aliphatic compounds; Catalysis; Catalytic reactions; Chemistry; Exact sciences and technology; General and physical chemistry; Organic chemistry; Preparations and properties; Theory of reactions, general kinetics. Catalysis. Nomenclature, chemical documentation, computer chemistry
• ISSN: 1463-9262; 1463-9270
• DOI: 10.1039/c3gc40353j

Heterogeneous graphene oxide (GO)-based catalysts with sulfonic acid (SO sub(3)H) functional groups (GO-SO sub(3)H) were used for the selective decomposition of the hexose sugars, glucose and fructose into levulinic acid (LA), which has been used as a platform chemical for various value-added derivatives. The GO-SO sub(3)H catalysts gave high yields of around 78% for LA and showed good reuse compatibility with reliable performance. The chemical transformation patterns for hexose sugar decompositions are affected by the temperature, the density of acid sites, and the type of catalyst. The high catalytic performance of GO-SO sub(3)H was shown to result from the higher density of Broensted acid sites in the GO, compared with the Lewis acid sites in other AC-SO sub(3)H catalysts. The morphology, surface characteristics, and other physiochemical properties were evaluated using several characterization techniques.