Ni‐Al‐Ti Hydrotalcite Based Catalyst for the Selective Hydrogenation of Biomass‐Derived Levulinic Acid to γ‐Valerolactone

Abstract

Abstract Ni−Al‐Ti mixed oxide derived from Ni−Al‐Ti hydrotalcite precursor is identified as an efficient catalyst for the hydrogenation of levulinic acid (LA) to γ‐valerolactone (GVL). This catalyst showed high active surface Ni sites due to a higher synergy in the mixed oxide formed from the hydrotalcite precursor. These results are further supported by X‐ray diffraction analysis (XRD), electron spin resonance spectroscopy (ESR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results. The higher activity of Ni−Al‐Ti compared to Ni−Al, Ni−Ti catalysts was attributed to a high ratio of Lewis to Brønsted acid sites (LAS/BAS) observed from pyridine adsorption – DRIFTS results along with high surface Ni sites on the catalyst surface measured from CO‐chemisorption studies. This contributed to the enhanced selectivity of the desired product, GVL over Ni−Al‐Ti catalyst as compared to its individual counter parts, Ni−Ti and Ni−Al catalysts.