Esterification of levulinic acid into ethyl levulinate catalysed by sulfonated hydrothermal carbons

The synthesis of carbon-based, heterogeneous sulphonic catalysts for the production of levulinate esters. Hydrothermal treatment at moderated temperatures was employed to generate highly func-tional carbonaceous materials, referred to as hydrothermal carbons (HTCs), from both glucose, cellulose and rye straw. The products were sulfonated to generate solid acid-catalysts. Characterisa-tion of the as-synthesised materials as well as catalyst activity tests were performed. SEM images indicate the micrometre-sized particles present in both HTCs were largely unaffected by sulfona-tion, although cellulose-derived HTC displayed signs of inadequate hydrolysis. FT-IR spectroscopy and elemental analysis confirmed successful incorporation of sulphonic groups. 13C solid state NMR, in addition to TGA, elucidated the carbons’ structural composition and supported the common-ly-proposed hydrothermal carbonisation mechanism. Finally, the catalysts were tested via levulinic acid-ethanol esterification and gave high conversion and ester-selectivities (>90%).