Abstract
Dehydration of biomass-derived levulinic acid under solid acid catalysis and treatment of the resulting angelica lactone with catalytic K 2CO3 produces the angelica lactone dimer in excellent yield. This dimer serves as a novel feedstock for hydrodeoxygenation, which proceeds under relatively mild conditions with a combination of oxophilic metal and noble metal catalysts to yield branched C7-C10 hydrocarbons in the gasoline volatility range. Considering that levulinic acid is available in >80 % conversion from raw biomass, a field-to-tank yield of drop-in, cellulosic gasoline of >60 % is possible. Fuel for thought: Biomass-derived levulinic acid can be converted in three simple steps via the angelica lactone dimer into branched, gasoline-range hydrocarbons in high yield by using a combination of oxophilic metal and noble metal catalysts (see scheme).
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1854-1857 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Angewandte Chemie - International Edition |
Volume | 53 |
Issue number | 7 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 10 2014 |
Keywords
- biofuels
- biomass conversion
- isoalkanes
- levulinic acid
- sustainable chemistry
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Chemistry(all)
- Catalysis