Methanol → Levulinic Acid

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

An amount of 200 g fructose 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 2 hours. The solution was cooled down and a methanol/water mixture (5 vol % water) was added until 1.0 L of an homogeneous, clear solution was obtained. After dissolving the fructose the solution obtained was passed through a plug flow reactor that was heated at different temperatures, varying from 180 to 220° C. The residence time in the heated zone of the reactor was also varied and was set at 2 or 4 minutes. The pressure in this step 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 fructose in the product stream divided by the number of moles of fructose 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 amount of moles of fructose times 100. The results are shown in Table 3.

Provenance & Evidence