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Acidic Ionic Liquid Catalyzed One-Pot Conversion of Cellulose to Ethyl Levulinate and Levulinic Acid in Ethanol-Water Solvent System

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Abstract

Cellulose can be converted to a mixture of ethyl levulinate and levulinic acid by heating with a Brönsted acidic ionic liquid catalyst in aqueous ethanol medium in a one-pot operation under mild conditions. The highest ethyl levulinate yield of 19.0 % was obtained for a reaction carried out at 170 °C for 12 h in water-ethanol medium containing 38.5 % water and using 1-(1-propylsulfonic)-3-methylimidazolium chloride as the catalyst. The levulinic acid yields continue to increase with increasing water content up to about 54 % water in aqueous ethanol for reactions carried out at 150 °C for 48 h, and the highest levulinic acid yield was 23.7 %. The acidic, ionic liquid catalyst used can be efficiently recovered (96 %) from the water phase with negligible contamination, and the stability of the catalyst was confirmed by comparison of the 1H NMR spectrum of the recovered catalyst with fresh catalyst.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the American Chemical Society-PRF grant UR1-49436, NSF grants CBET-0929970, CBET-1336469, HRD-1036593, and USDA grant CBG-2010-38821-21569 for the financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX, 77446, USA

    Ananda S. Amarasekara & Bernard Wiredu

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  1. Ananda S. Amarasekara
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  2. Bernard Wiredu
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Correspondence to Ananda S. Amarasekara.

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Amarasekara, A.S., Wiredu, B. Acidic Ionic Liquid Catalyzed One-Pot Conversion of Cellulose to Ethyl Levulinate and Levulinic Acid in Ethanol-Water Solvent System. Bioenerg. Res. 7, 1237–1243 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-014-9459-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-014-9459-z

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