Integrated Conversion of Hemicellulose and Furfural into γ-Valerolactone over Au/ZrO2 Catalyst Combined with ZSM-5

The high-yield synthesis of the biofuel gamma-valerolactone (GVL) is a challenging task, which currently stems from the depolymerization of cellulose to levulinic acid, followed by its hydrogenation. We have developed a novel integrated process for the production of GVL from hemicellulose without using liquid acids and external hydrogen. The hemicellulose feed underwent hydrolysis and consecutive dehydration to produce furfural over ZSM-5 catalyst. Subsequently, the formed furfural with 2-propanol performed tandem conversion to GVL over Au/ZrO2 catalyst combined with ZSM-5. This process gave a high yield of GVL under mild conditions: up to 61.5% based on hemicellulose. The outstanding performance was mainly ascribed to the strong interface interaction of Au with ZrO2 species, large amounts of medium-strength acid sites over ZSM-5, and efficient synergy between active metal and acid sites.