One-pot assembly of sulfated lignin/Zr coordination polymer for efficient alcoholysis of furfuryl alcohol to methyl levulinate

Biomass-derived alkyl levulinates are considered to be ideal fuel additives, and the construction of green and economic catalysts for the production of alkyl levulinates was still a challenging goal. In this work, a facile method for the synthesis of sulfated lignin/Zr coordination polymer (Zr-LSNa@SX) was developed through the coordination of sodium lignosulfonate with Zr ions by hydrothermal procedure. The catalytic performance of prepared Zr-LSNa@SX for the direct conversion of furfuryl alcohol (FA) to methyl levulinate (ML) was studied and a 73.1% yield of ML was achieved at 180 oC in 180 min. The as-prepared sulfated lignin/Zr coordination polymer was characterized using SEM, FT-IR, and Py-FTIR techniques, and it was determined that the Brønsted acid sites of the catalyst played a crucial role in the conversion of FA to ML in methanol. This work provided a facile method for constructing the green and economical bio-based solid acid catalyst which will greatly extend the application of bio-based materials in the acid-catalyzed reaction.