Jimmy Nelson Appaturi, Manickam Selvaraj, Jothi Ramalingam Rajabathar, Fitri Khoerunnisa, Severinne Rigolet, T. Jean Daou, Pedro Maireles-Torres, Salah M. El-Bahy, Zeinhom M. El-Bahy, Eng-Poh Ng
Highly active and recyclable sulfated silica nanocatalyst for the synthesis of hexyl levulinate (HL) is reported. The sulfated catalysts, Sn-BLA (n = 15 or 30 μL of H2SO4 added), are prepared via sulfation upon amorphous bamboo leaf ash (BLA) under non-microwave instant heating condition (100 °C, 1.5 h). The spectroscopy and microscopy results reveal that silica nanoparticles (28 nm) with Brӧnsted ([Formula presented] bisulfate group) and Lewis ([Formula presented] sulfate group) acid sites are produced upon sulfation treatment. The sulfur containing acid groups covalently bound on the mesosilica surface are very active in the esterification of levulinic acid and hexanol where S30-BLA presents excellent catalytic activity (95.2% conversion, 98.0% selective to HL) at 90 °C for 7 min, which is far more superior than the previously reported catalysts. The S30-BLA catalyst is reusable with slight decrease in catalytic activity after six consecutive runs, suggesting an economical and environment-friendly route to biomass utilization. © 2021 Elsevier Inc.
School of Chemical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Penang, Malaysia; Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, Abha, 61413, Saudi Arabia; Surfactant Research Chair, Chemistry Department, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box. 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia; Department of Chemistry, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Setiabudi 229, West Java, Bandung, 40154, Indonesia; Université de Strasbourg, 67000, Strasbourg, France; Laboratoire Catalyse & Spectrochimie, ENSICAEN, Université de Caen, Caen, 14000, France; Departamento de Química Inorgánica Cristalografía y Mineralogía (Unidad Asociada al ICP-CSIC) Facultad de Ciencias Campus de Teatinos, Universidad de Málaga, Málaga, 29071, Spain; Department of Chemistry, Turabah University College, Taif University, P.O.Box 11099, Taif, 21944, Saudi Arabia; Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Nasr City, Cairo, 11884, Egypt
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