High‐Yield Synthesis of Sustainable γ‐Valerolactone from Biomass‐Derived Product Levulinic Acid by Hydrogenation in Fixed Bed Continuous Reactor

Abstract The transformation of biomass‐derived feedstocks into valuable chemicals is crucial for the sustainable development of our society. Extensive applications of γ‐valerolactone give wide attention to synthesis. We have prepared a Pt‐hydrotalcite (Pt‐HT) catalyst by the sol‐gel method and determined that this catalyst shows superior performance for the precise hydrogenation of levulinic (LA) gg acid into γ‐valerolactone (GVL), where 100% GVL selectivity was achieved with LA conversion of ∼98% at 300 °C and 10 bar pressure using a fixed bed continuous down‐flow reactor. The physiochemical characterization of the catalyst was identified as done by XRD, SEM, HRTEM, BET, XPS, and TPR. The incorporated Pt metal has high dispersion in the presence of a basic medium of MgO and an acidic medium of Al 2 O 3 of hydrotalcite (HT). The acidity of alumina is responsible for C─O bond cleavage to form an angelica‐lactone intermediate, which is further converted to form GVL over Pt, positioning it as a highly promising catalyst for the practical production of γ‐valerolactone. Highly dispersed Pt located between the interlayer spacing of support hydrotalcite is the active species, and the catalyst was stable even after a 24 h time‐on‐stream run without changing the conversion and selectivity.