Summary: ISU researchers have developed a method of producing levulinic acid from cis,cis-muconic acid with high selectivity using only mild conditions.
Description: Utilizing sulfuric acid as a catalyst under mild conditions of 80–120 °C and atmospheric pressure, biomass-derived cis,cis-muconic acid can be converted to levlulinc acid with 100% selectivity. The reaction proceeds through key intermediates such as muconolactone (MLac), which undergoes decarboxylation and tautomerization to form levlulinc acid. Additionally, derivatives of levlulinc acid such as ethyl levulinate or ethyl muconolactone ester can be formed by controlling the amount of ethanol and/or water included in the reaction.
Advantages: • Solvent-free synthesis of levulinic acid • Mild conditions of 80–120 °C and atmospheric pressure • High selectivity (100%) of levlulinc acid • Tunable for synthesis of derivatives such as ethyl levulinate
Application: Production of biomass-derived levulinic acid
References: Bhardwaj et al., "Mild decarboxylation of neat muconic acid to levulinic acid: a combined experimental and computational mechanistic study"
Patent: Patent(s) applied for
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