Solvent Tuning the Selective Hydrogenation of Levulinic Acid into Biofuels over Ni-Metal Organic Framework-Derived Catalyst

We demonstrated that the direct change of solvent could tune the highly selective synthesis of biofuels γ-valerolactone (GVL) or levulinate esters from the hydrogenation levulinic acid (LA) over magnetic Ni/C catalysts fabricated from a nickel–metal organic framework (Ni-MOF) precursor. Yields were 98.2% and 86.1% of GVL with almost perfect selectivity when 1,4-dioxane and isopropanol were used as the solvent, respectively. Levulinate esters (86.5% yield of methyl levulinate and 45.6% yield of ethyl levulinate) were synthesized in methanol and ethanol solvents under identical conditions. This work offers an attractive strategy for the selective production of biofuels in the process of biomass feedstocks.