title: Direct Conversion of Cellulose into Ethyl Lactate in Supercritical Ethanol-Water Solutions.
abstract: Biomass-derived ethyl lactate is a green solvent with a growing market as the replacement for petroleum-derived toxic organic solvents. Here we report, for the first time, the production of ethyl lactate directly from cellulose with the mesoporous Zr-SBA-15 silicate catalyst in a supercritical mixture of ethanol and water. The relatively strong Lewis and weak Brønsted acid sites on the catalyst, as well as the surface hydrophobicity, were beneficial to the reaction and led to synergy during consecutive reactions, such as depolymerization, retro-aldol condensation, and esterification. Under the optimum reaction conditions, ∼33 % yield of ethyl lactate was produced from cellulose with the Zr-SBA-15 catalyst at 260 °C in supercritical 95:5 (w/w) ethanol/water.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Material Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 N. Virginia St. M/S388, Reno, NV, 89557, USA.
authors.forename: Lisha
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Material Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 N. Virginia St. M/S388, Reno, NV, 89557, USA.
authors.forename: Xiaokun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
authors.forename: Elli
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Material Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 N. Virginia St. M/S388, Reno, NV, 89557, USA. HongfeiL@unr.edu.
authors.forename: Hongfei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D002384:Catalysis; D002482:Cellulose / Q000737:chemistry*; D025924:Chromatography, Supercritical Fluid; D000431:Ethanol / Q000737:chemistry*; D005285:Fermentation; D007773:Lactates / Q000737:chemistry*; D015394:Molecular Structure; D016062:Porosity; D017640:Silicates / Q000737:chemistry; D012997:Solvents / Q000737:chemistry*; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D013499:Surface Properties; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*; D015040:Zirconium / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D007773:Lactates; D017640:Silicates; D012997:Solvents; D014867:Water; D000431:Ethanol; C003784:zircon; D002482:Cellulose; D015040:Zirconium; C015866:ethyl lactate
keywords: biomass; cellulose; ethyl lactate; lewis acid; mesoporous silica