Methanol → Levulinic Acid

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

An amount of 100 g glucose was added to 800 mL of a mixture of methanol and water (5 vol % water) that contained 55 mmol (5.4 gr) sulphuric acid. The admixture obtained was stirred at 60° C. until all solids were dissolved in about 4 hours. After the dissolution, the volume of the solution is adjusted to 1 L by adding a mixture of methanol and water (5 vol % water). The solution obtained which contains a mixture of glucose and glucosides was passed through a plug flow reactor that was heated at different temperatures, varying from 200 to 220° C. The residence time in the heated zone of the reactor was also varied and was set at 2, 4 or 8 minutes. The pressure in the reactor was maintained at 65 bar. After having obtained a steady state condition in the reactor the product stream was analysed. The analysis determined the conversion (1 minus the number of moles of glucose and glucosides in the product stream divided by the number of moles of glucose in the starting material, expressed in percent), and the yields for 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (“HMF”), 5-methoxymethylfurfural (“MMF”), methyllevulinate (“Me-Lev”) and levulinic acid (“LA”). The yield is expressed in percent and has been calculated as the number of moles of the compound in question divided by the initial moles of glucose times 100. The results are shown in Table 5.

Provenance & Evidence