MPV Reduction of Ethyl Levulinate to γ-Valerolactone by Biomass-derived Chitosan-Supported Zr Catalyst

It remains as a crucial and attractive topic to develop low-cost and efficient catalyst for the catalytic transformation of biomass-derived ethyl levulinate (EL) to γ-valerolactone (GVL) through MPV reduction. Herein, we employed the biopolymers chitosan as support to synthesize a biomass-derived catalyst (chitosan-Zr) to achieve GVL in 97% yield rom MPV reduction of EL, by using isopropanol as hydrogen source. The catalyst system is also applicable to the reduction of various organic compounds with carbonyl group. Additionally, we have proposed a possible mechanism for this reaction based on the systematic investigation towards the reaction. Moreover, the recycle and reuse experiment showed that this chitosan-Zr exhibited long-life catalytic performance and can maintain its high catalytic performance even after five runs of recycle and reuse experiments.