Levulinic Acid → Pentane-1,4-diol

Participants

Reaction Steps

Direct production of MTHF from levulinic acid is not reported in the literature except as a minor byproduct [4]. Copper-chromium oxide was used to catalyze the hydrogenation in a two stage manner at 245° C. and 300° C. and required about 80 minutes. The reaction yielded 11% gamma-valerolactone and 44% 1,4-pentanediol with a 22% yield of a water byproduct with the "odor of a alpha-methyl tetrahydrofuran", but no quantitative analysis of the water byproduct was reported, (estimated 4.5 mol % yield of MTHF in the water byproduct).

Provenance & Evidence