Mono- And Bimetallic (Ru-Co) Polymeric Catalysts For Levulinic Acid Hydrogenation

Levulinic acid (LA) is one of the substances, which can be obtained from cellulosic biomass via acid hydrolysis and serves as a precursor in the synthesis of gamma-valerolactone (GVL) - platform chemical for so-called valeric fuels. This work is devoted to the study of catalytic conversion of LA to GVL using mono-(Ru) and bimetallic (RuCo) catalysts based on ruthenium-containing nanoparticles immobilized in hyper-crosslinked polystyrene (HPS). It was shown that RuO2 nanoparticles are an active phase of HPS-based Ru catalysts, which allow nearly 100 % yield of GVL at 120 degrees C and 2 MPa of hydrogen partial pressure for the reaction time 60 min. Introduction of cobalt in catalyst composition in a proper amount (Ru-to-Co weight ratio is 30) was found to result in Ru redistribution inside the polymeric support and, in turn, to the increase of reaction rate of LA hydrogenation.