Influence of support for ru and water role on product selectivity in the vapor-phase hydrogenation of levulinic acid to γ-valerolactone: Investigation by probe-adsorbed fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

Vijay Kumar Velisoju, Ganga Bhavani Peddakasu, Naresh Gutta, Venu Boosa, Manasa Kandula, Komandur V.R. Chary, Venugopal Akula

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32 Scopus citations

Abstract

Ru supported on activated carbon, Al2O3, and MgO was assessed for the hydrogenation of levulinic acid (LA) to γ-valerolactone (GVL). Role of H2O on the hydrogenation activity of Ru was studied by probe-adsorbed diffuse-reflectance infrared Fourier transform (DRIFT) spectroscopy. Ru supported on activated carbon showed a maximum productivity of 1.18 kgGVL kgcatalyst -1 h-1 with an insignificant loss in the activity after 72 h of continuous operation in the presence of H2O. Using pure LA, GVL rate was decreased by an order of magnitude (0.12 kgGVL kgcatalyst -1 h-1) within 6 h of reaction time. The physicochemical characteristics of the catalysts were examined by temperature-programmed desorption of NH3, CO pulse chemisorption, H2-temperature-programmed reduction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy techniques. H2O-adsorbed DRIFT spectroscopic data revealed the reversible generation of surface -OH groups when aqueous LA was used as the substrate; consequently, Ru/C catalyst stability was also improved. Finally, on the basis of the kinetic and in situ spectroscopic data, a plausible surface-reaction mechanism is proposed for the vapor-phase LA hydrogenation to GVL in the presence of H2O over the carbon-supported Ru catalyst.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)19670-19677
Number of pages8
JournalJOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY C
Volume122
Issue number34
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 30 2018
Externally publishedYes

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