Recent developments of the biorefinery of γ-valerolactone

Abstract Lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) is a renewable and abundant feedstock rich in carbohydrates, which can be catalytically valorized into a wide range of valuable platform chemicals. Levulinic acid (LA) is classified by United State Department of Energy (DOE) as the one of most important 15 derivatives of lignocellulosic biomass. LA can be simply and completely transformed to γ-valerolactone (GVL) via catalytic hydrodeoxygenation process. Recently, a large numbers of publications reported on the application of GVL as a platform chemical for many applications. GVL possesses high reactivity owing to its functionality, and it is involved in many reactions where value-added chemicals can be produced. In this review, we focus on the recent route for upgrading GVL to pentenoic acid (PEA), pentanoic acid (PA), saturated and unsaturated esters (SE and USE), 2-methyltetrahydrofuran (MeTHF), α-methylene-γ-valerolactone (MeGVL) and α-alkyl-γ-valerolactone (AAGVL). We also discuss on the challenges that the large-scale implementation of GVL biorefinery is facing.