Hydrogenolysis of biomass‐derived levulinic acid to produce 1,4‐pentanediol over Co/ZrO₂ catalyst

Abstract

Abstract BACKGROUND Levulinic acid is an important platform chemical derivable from lignocellulosic biomass. In this work, the hydrogenolysis of levulinic acid to produce 1,4‐pentanediol was performed over some Co‐based non‐noble catalysts. The relationship between the catalyst properties and the catalytic activity was investigated, and the effects of the reaction conditions on the catalytic activity were studied. RESULTS The Co/ZrO 2 catalyst prepared by a coprecipitation method showed a high catalytic performance in the hydrogenolysis of levulinic acid to form 1,4‐pentanediol. The calcination of Co/ZrO 2 significantly affected the catalytic activity, and a high calcination temperature of 750 °C could promote the formation of 1,4‐pentanediol. Meanwhile, the reduction of Co/ZrO 2 at 400 °C in an H 2 flow was beneficial for producing 1,4‐pentanediol, and the Co species after the reduction existed as the forms of Co 2+ and Co 0 . A high H 2 pressure and a moderate reaction temperature of 200 °C were beneficial for producing 1,4‐pentanediol, and a high 1,4‐pentanediol selectivity of 85.6% with a complete conversion of levulinic acid was obtained over the Co/ZrO 2 catalyst at 200 °C under an H 2 pressure of 7 MPa. CONCLUSION The Co species in the 400 °C‐reduced Co/ZrO 2 catalyst existed as the forms of Co 2+ and Co 0 . It was proposed that the synergistic effect of Co 2+ and Co 0 contributed to the effective formation of 1,4‐pentanediol from levulinic acid. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).