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Efficient Transformation of Furfuryl Alcohol Into Ethyl Levulinates via Alcoholysis Reaction Catalyzed by SnO2/H-Mordenite Catalyst

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Abstract

Catalytic production of ethyl levulinate by alcoholysis of furfuryl alcohol with ethanol was investigated over H-mordenite supported Sn catalyst under atmospheric N2 pressure. The catalysts with different Sn loadings (5, 10, 15 and 20 wt%) over H-mordenite were synthesized by adopting a simple and facile wet impregnation method. Detailed physical–chemical properties of synthesized catalysts were analyzed through X-ray diffraction, N2-physisorption, temperature-programmed desorption of ammonia (TPD-NH3), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM–EDS) and pyridine-adsorbed FT-IR techniques, respectively. The XRD results and elemental mapping of Sn studies depicted the formation of well dispersed Sn particles over H-mordenite structure. The Sn impregnated H-mordenite exhibited high total acidity and thus, providing a large number of total acid sites which are accessible to the reactant molecules. Sn loadings had a significant effect on the reaction performance. The characterization results evidenced the total acidity of the H- mordenite support and the Sn dispersion is well correlated with the activity in furfural alcohol conversion and selectivity. Thus, an optimized catalytic system, i.e., with 10 wt% Sn/H-mordenite has shown superior activity in the alcoholysis of furfuryl alcohol with ethanol as a co-reactant.

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Acknowledgements

SH & BPK acknowledges the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Catalysis Division, CSIR – Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, 50007, India

    Hussain SK, Putrakumar Balla, Bhanuchander Ponnala, Srinivasarao Ginjupalli, Nagaraju Nekkala, Kumara Swamy Koppadi & V R Chary Komandur

  2. Engineering Research Centre for Hydrogen Energy and New Materials, College of Rare Earths (CORE), Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, Ganzhou, 341000, China

    Putrakumar Balla

  3. Department of Applied Sciences, University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Al-khuwair-133, P.O. Box 74, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman

    Srinivasarao Ginjupalli

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  1. Hussain SK
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SK, H., Balla, P., Ponnala, B. et al. Efficient Transformation of Furfuryl Alcohol Into Ethyl Levulinates via Alcoholysis Reaction Catalyzed by SnO2/H-Mordenite Catalyst. Catal Surv Asia 26, 104–114 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10563-022-09354-y

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