Production of Bio-Gamma-Butyrolactone from Succinic Acid in Bio-Derivable Tetrahydrofuran Solvent

Abstract

Gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) production from biomass-derived succinic acid (SA) has been actively conducted in recent years. However, petroleum-derived 1,4-dioxane, along with water and ethanol, has been used as the solvent. In this study, we employed bio-derivable tetrahydrofuran (THF), a greener solvent that suppresses GBL overreaction. SA hydrogenation was conducted under milder conditions than in previous studies, with reaction times (1–8 h), temperatures (170–230 °C), and initial H₂ pressures (2–4 MPa) varied systematically. Results show that at 230 °C, both GBL consumption and SA side reactions are substantially facilitated. H₂ pressure strongly influences GBL selectivity with optimum conditions (initial H₂ pressure of 4 MPa, reaction temperature of 200 °C, and reaction time of 6 h), yielding the highest GBL yield (46.8 mol%) and selectivity (55.7 mol%). THF achieved comparable GBL yields and selectivities in the SA–GBL reaction to those of dioxane. In addition, we predict pathways for byproduct formation in the SA–GBL reaction in THF solvent.