Catalytic transfer hydrogenation of levulinate ester into γ-valerolactone over ternary Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst

Abstract An effective catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) process of bio-based levulinate esters into γ-valerolactone (GVL) was explored over ternary Cu/ZnO/Al 2 O 3 catalyst which was prepared by co-precipitation method and could be sustainably used. As a result, quantitative conversion of ethyl levulinate (EL) and 99.0% yield of GVL were obtained in the CTH process using i -PrOH as hydrogen donor. The Cu/ZnO/Al 2 O 3 catalyst with high-surface-area could be reused at least four times without the loss of catalytic activity. Furthermore, the structure and properties of Cu/ZnO/Al 2 O 3 catalyst was characterized through XRD, BET, SEM, TEM and H 2 -TPR. Also, the influence of different support oxides and calcination temperatures was investigated.