Catalyst characterization and catalytic evaluation of 3wt%Al-KIT-6 toward biomass-derived γ-valerolactone decarboxylation to butene

Biomass-derived gamma-Valerolactone (GVL) has been identified as a promising, sustainable platform molecule. The production of butene from GVL is of great significant in the situation of the fossil fuel resource crisis. In present work, xwt%Al-KIT-6 catalyst were prepared and employed for catalyzing GVL decarboxylation to butene. It was found that the suitable Bronsted/Lewis acid ratio and large amount of weak acid sites played a major role for the decarboxylation of gamma-protonated pentenoic acid (PEA), which endowed 3wt%Al-KIT-6 with excellent catalytic performance. Over the 3wt%Al-KIT-6 catalyst, the GVL conversion and butene yield can up to 99.68% and 94.28% at 300 degrees C, respectively. The corresponding E-a was as low as 86.97 kJ.mol(-1). Moreover, 3wt%Al-KIT-6 also exhibited an outstanding regenerable performance for cycle tests. Most importantly, the presence of an appropriate amount of H2O was beneficial to catalyzing GVL decarboxylation to butene by inhibiting the deposition of carbon.