Methyl levulinate gas-phase continuous-flow reduction toward y-valerolactone and C5 esters

The sustainable valorization of lignocellulosic biomass represents a promising alternative to fossil resources for producing chemicals and biofuels. Among the valuable products derived from lignocellulosic biomass, levulinic acid (LA) and its derivatives, levulinate esters (LE), are versatile platform molecules for various industrial applications. A prominent pathway for the valorization of LA or LE is the reduction to y-valerolactone (GVL), a highly sought-after intermediate in the chemical industry due to its wide range of applications. In addition, GVL can be further hydrogenated to produce alkyl valerates, compounds with significant value in chemical manufacturing and biofuel production. Usually, these reactions are carried out in batch systems using expensive noble metals catalysts (e.g. Ru, Pt and Pd) and high pressure of hydrogen, which most of the time is produced from fossil fuel. The aim of this thesis is to replace hydrogen with (bio)-ethanol as reducing agent (H-donor) this way limiting the noble metals required in the process. Moreover, a special attention will be given to obtain GVL consecutive reduction products. New efforts were made to optimize the both catalysts synthesis and reaction conditions to improve GVL yields and/or the formation of consecutive products such as pentenoates and ethyl valerate (EV) along with increasing catalyst lifetime.