Highly Efficient Synthesis of Amino Acids by Amination of Bio-Derived Hydroxy Acids with Ammonia over Ru Supported on N-Doped Carbon Nanotubes

Graphical A sustainable conversion : Developing highly efficient catalytic systems for amino acid productions from renewable bio-derived chemicals is very attractive for a sustainable future. N-doped carbon nanotube-supported Ru nanoparticles (Ru/N−CNTs) display excellent performance in the amination of bio-derived hydroxy acids into amino acids. The high-performance can be correlated with high dispersion of Ru nanoparticles and electronic effect resulting from the N-dopant. The amino acids have extensive applications, and their productions from biomass-derived feedstocks are very attractive. In this work, the synthesis of amino acids by amination of bio-derived hydroxy acids with ammonia over different metallic nano-catalysts supported on various supports is studied. It is found that Ru nano-catalysts on the nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (Ru/N−CNTs) have an outstanding performance for the reaction. Different hydroxy acids can be catalytically converted into the corresponding amino acids with yields up to 70.0 % under mild conditions, which is higher than those reported. The reasons for the high efficiency of the catalyst are investigated, and the reaction pathway is proposed on the basis of control experiments.