Levulinic acid was prepared from biomass

There are two main ways to produce levulinic acid from biomass: the first is to first degrade saccharide biomass to produce furfural, then hydrogenate furfural to produce furfuryl alcohol, and then through catalyst, hydrolysis under acidic conditions, and then carry out ring opening and rearrangement reaction to get levulinic acid;

The second is the biomass raw materials such as cellulose hydrolyzed into monosaccharides by acid-base pretreatment. At high temperature, these monosaccharides are further degraded into 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and some intermediates. Under the condition of acid, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural is further degraded into levulinic acid and formic acid.

The process of hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol and then to levulinic acid is complicated.

The hydrolysis of biomass directly catalyzed by acid at high temperature to produce levulinic acid will become the main production method of levulinic acid due to its simple method, easy control of technological conditions and low raw material price.