Reaction Mechanism for the Conversion of γ-Valerolactone (GVL) over a Ru Catalyst: A First-Principles Study

Conversion of biomass-derived γ-valerolactone (GVL) to valuable chemicals has been studied extensively, and understanding the reaction mechanism is very valuable for improving turnover rates and selectivities. Here, we report first-principles density functional calculations, through which we show in detail the reaction pathways of GVL conversion on a Ru(0001) surface, in good agreement with recent experimental results performed on supported Ru catalysts. We find that (i) GVL undergoes a ring-opening reaction rather easily, and (ii) the rate-limiting step toward the formation of 1,4-pentanediol (1,4-PDO) and 2-pentanol (2-PeOH) is the hydrogenation step. The high energy barrier for this step is caused by a strong interaction between Ru and the unsaturated acyl intermediate that is formed after opening the ring. Among all the primary products, formation of 2-butanol (2-BuOH) has the smallest activation barrier, while the slowest step is C–C bond cleavage in the decarbonylation step. We further show that the...