Promoted catalytic performance from furfural to isopropyl levulinate by Zr loaded on defective nanosponge zeolites

Production of alkyl levulinate (AL) from bio-derived furfural (FUR) is environmental-friendly and sustainable. During such process, bifunctional Zr/zeolite catalyst has been demonstrated highly efficient, in which synergism of metal-zeolite and porous structure of catalysts play important roles. In this work, a defective nanoaponge ZSM-5 zeolite loading Zr catalyst is prepared for conversion of FUR to produce isopropyl levulinate (IPL). The defective nanosponge zeolite is hydrothermally synthesized sequenced by acid treatment (NP-A). Then the Zr species were introduced in the as-synthesized NP-A zeolite by impregnation and calcination (Zr/NP-A). The NP zeolite composed of nano-crystalline aggregates deliver hierarchical pores, which promotes adsorption and activation of isopropanol. And the generation of framework Zr accelerates the adsorption of FUR. The as-synthesized Zr/NP-A catalyst give IPL yield up of 77.8 mol% after 3 h reaction at 200 °C with turnover frequency of 8.3 mmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹, which provides an efficient catalyst for production of AL through bio-route.