Silicotungstate: An Inexpensive and Efficient Catalyst for Conversion of Glucose to Levulinic Acid in Aqueous Medium

Three kinds of silicotungstate, Zn2SiW12O40, Ag4SiW12O40 and Al4/3SiW12O40 were performed for the dehydration reaction to produce valuable platform chemicals levulinic acid (LA) and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) from glucose. The results showed that Al4/3SiW12O40 seemed beneficial for LA and HMF production from glucose. The highest LA yield of 50.4% was obtained when the glucose conversion was almost 100% at 180 °C for 120 min with glucose was 0.5 g and the catalyst dosage was 0.45 g. The recycling of Al4/3SiW12O40 catalyst can be reused at least for four times with the activity loss less than 18.4% and the SEM images showed that the activity loss less may due to the formation of the clustered fine particles on catalyst surface. This work provided a promising strategy for the production of LA from carbohydrates using inexpensive silicotungstate catalysts in aqueous medium.