Sustainable synthesis of α-ketoglutaric and methanetriacetic acids from biomass feedstocks
α-Ketoglutaric acid (KGA) and methanetriacetic acid (MTA) are important multi-functional carboxylic acids with versatile applications. However, their synthetic processes are still not green and efficient. Herein, we report a novel one-pot approach for sustainable synthesis of KGA and MTA from biomass-derived pyruvic and glyoxylic acids under mild conditions. KGA is synthesized via cross-aldol condensation of pyruvic and glyoxylic acids to 2-hydroxy-4-oxopentanedioic acid, followed by its sequential dehydration and hydrogenation on Pd/TiO<sub>2</sub>, affording a high yield of 85.4% on a molar basis of glyoxylic acid at 110 °C and 1.0 MPa H<sub>2</sub>. The synthesis of MTA involves cross-aldol condensation of KGA and glyoxylic acid to 3-(carboxymethyl)-2-hydroxy-4-oxopentanedioic acid and its subsequent hydrodeoxygenation on Pd/TiO<sub>2</sub> and MoO<sub>x</sub>/TiO<sub>2</sub> in a high yield of 86.2% at 200 °C and 2.0 MPa H<sub>2</sub>. This novel approach provides a rationale for the sustainable production of various multi-functional carboxylic acids that are still not easily available.
Authors
- L. Liu
- Cheng‐Bin Hong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2203-8686)
- Weiming Hua (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2604-1911)
- Haichao Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9175-3371)
Institutions
- Peking University (CN)
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-02-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56536-z
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Carbon dioxide utilization in catalysis
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.82
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- China National Petroleum Corporation
- Peking University
- National Key Research and Development Program of China
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences