Esterification of levulinic acid to n-butyl levulinate over heteropolyacid supported on acid-treated

Levulinic acid has been identified as a promising green, biomass-derived platform chemical, n-Butyl levulinate is used as an important intermediate having diverse applications.The present work focuses on the synthesis of n-butyl levulinate by esterification of levulinic acid with n-butanol using heteropolyacid (HPA) supported on acid-treated clay montmorillonite (K10).20% (w/w) dodecatungestophosphoric acid (DTPA) supported on K10 was found to be the most efficient catalyst with 97% levulinic acid conversion and 100% selectivity towards n-butyl levulinate.Effects of various process parameters were studied to examine the efficacy of 20% (w/w) DTPA/K10 for optimization of the activity.