title: Conversion of sugars to lactic acid derivatives using heterogeneous zeotype catalysts.
abstract: Presently, very few compounds of commercial interest are directly accessible from carbohydrates by using nonfermentive approaches. We describe here a catalytic process for the direct formation of methyl lactate from common sugars. Lewis acidic zeotypes, such as Sn-Beta, catalyze the conversion of mono- and disaccharides that are dissolved in methanol to methyl lactate at 160 degrees C. With sucrose as the substrate, methyl lactate yield reaches 68%, and the heterogeneous catalyst can be easily recovered by filtration and reused multiple times after calcination without any substantial change in the product selectivity.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Catalysis and Sustainable Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Technical University of Denmark, Anker Engelundsvej 1, 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark.
authors.forename: Martin Spangsberg
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Holm
authors.forename: Shunmugavel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saravanamurugan
authors.forename: Esben
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Taarning