Chemo- and Regioselective Synthesis of Arylated gamma-Valerolactones from Bio-based Levulinic Acid with Aromatics Using H-beta Zeolite Catalyst

摘要

Catalytic coupling of biomass-based molecules to value-added chemical intermediates is an interesting area in biomass research. Arylated gamma-valerolactones (Agvls), promising pharmaceutical intermediates that have significant biological activity, are primarily synthesized currently through petro-route. In this paper, we report successful biomass-based synthesis of Agvls using levulinic acid (LA) and oxygen or sulphur- substituted aromatics over H-beta zeolite as catalyst under solvent-free conditions. Under optimized condition, LA and anisole render 90% conversion of former with 82% yield of para-substituted gamma-lactone. C-C bond formation followed by intra-molecular esterification is witnessed in the course of the reaction, which is highly chemo- and regioselective. Though catalyst deactivated while reuse due to deposition of organic carbon moieties as deduced from several physicochemical techniques, it could be regenerated by simple calcination.