Sustainable and rapid production of biofuel γ-valerolactone from biomass-derived levulinate enabled by a fluoride-ionic liquid

γ-Valerolactone (GVL) is a versatile biomass-derived molecule for both value-added chemicals and biofuels, which is typically prepared from levulinates over metal particles or oxides in the presence of hydrogen, formic acid or alcohol. Herein, we reported a rapid and mild approach for cascade hydrogenation-cyclization of ethyl levulinate (EL) to GVL in the presence of readily available ionic liquid tetrabutylammonium fluoride ([TBA]F) and polymethylhydrosiloxane (PMHS) as catalyst and hydrogen source, respectively. After reacting at room temperature for 30 min, a high GVL yield of 85% with TOF value of 52 h−1 could be obtained over 3 mol% [TBA]F. In addition to optimizing reaction parameters, the catalytic mechanism was also elucidated for the one-pot sequential transformation of EL to GVL.