Metal-organic framework containing Brønsted acidity and Lewis acidity for efficient conversion glucose to levulinic acid

Levulinic acid (LA) is a versatile key building block in the conversion of carbohydrates and it is an important basic chemical with various potential uses. MIL-100(Fe) loading with insoluble lysine functionalized phosphotungstic acid (Lys-PM2) as heterogeneous catalysts have been synthesized for the conversion of glucose to LA in water. The optimized yield of LA is obtained by using Lys-PM2 to catalyze glucose conversion is comparable to the majority of effective catalysts. The highest yield of LA (57.9%) is obtained at 150 °C for 9 h with 100 mg glucose and 25 mg Lys-PM2, since the Brønsted acidity and Lewis acidity of Lys-PM2. And the catalyst is able to recycle at least four times. It demonstrates the potential of Lys-PM2 for the conversion of biomass.