Catalytic Transfer Hydrogenation of Biomass-Derived Ethyl Levulinate into Gamma-Valerolactone Over Graphene Oxide-Supported Zirconia Catalysts

Abstract The transformation of biomass-derived intermediates into value-added chemicals and liquid fuels is of great importance in sustainable chemistry. In this study, graphene oxide supported ZrO 2 (ZrO 2 /GO) was found to be an active heterogeneous catalyst for the transfer hydrogenation of ethyl levulinate to γ-valerolactone (GVL) with iso -propanol as the hydrogen donor. Several important reaction parameters such as the hydrogen donor, the reaction temperature and the catalyst loading were studied in detail with the aim to get a high yield of GVL. It was found that the structure of alcohols had a great effect towards the activity of the ZrO 2 /GO catalyst and the selectivity of GVL. Iso -propanol was the best hydrogen donor for the transfer hydrogenation of ethyl levulinate to GVL. The highest GVL yield reached 91.7% with an ethyl levulinate conversion of 96.2% under optimal reaction conditions. More importantly, the ZrO 2 /GO catalyst demonstrated a high stability without the loss of its catalytic activity during the recycling experiments, which should be due to the strong interaction between GO and ZrO 2 . Graphical Abstract The graphene oxide supported ZrO 2 (ZrO 2 /GO) catalyst showed high activity for the transfer hydrogenation of ethyl levulinate to GVL with a high yield up to 91.7%.