Catalytic hydrogenation of ethyl levulinate into γ-valerolactone over commercial Raney Cu catalyst

An eco-friendly green reaction process was developed to achieve efficient hydrogenation of ethyl levulinate (EL) to γ-valerolactone (GVL) over commercial-available Raney Cu catalyst with H2 as the hydrogen source. Raney Cu presented higher catalytic activity among a series of Cu based and Raney type catalysts. The maximum yield of GVL was 98.3