Hydrogenation of levulinic acid using Ru-containing catalysts based on hypercrosslinked polystyrene

Abstract

This work is devoted to the investigation of the possibility of the use of Ru-containing catalysts on the basis of polymeric matrix of hypercrosslinked polystyrene (HPS) in the hydrogenation of levulinic acid (LA) to gamma-valerolactone (GVL). HPS-based Ru-containing catalysts were synthesized at variation of HPS type (MN100 bearing amino groups or MN270 without functional groups) and metal content. Catalyst 5%-Ru/MN100 was shown to compete with commercial 5%-Ru/C and to allow carrying out the hydrogenation of LA in aqueous medium with high yields of GVL (more than 99%).