In recent years, numerous researchers have focused on the development of catalytic methods for processing of biomass-derived sugars into alkyl lactates, which are widely used as non-toxic solvents and are the starting material for obtaining monomeric lactide. In this work, the transformation of fructose into methyl lactate on Sn-containing catalyst in the flow reactor that may be of practical interest was studied. The supported Sn-containing catalyst was ob-tained by a simple impregnation method of granular γ-Al2O3. The catalytic ex-periments were performed in a flow reactor at temperatures of 160-190 °C and pressure of 3.0 MPa. The 1.6-9.5 wt.% fructose solutions in 80% aqueous methanol were used as a reaction mixture. It was found that addition to a reac-tion mixture of 0.03 wt.% potassium carbonate leads to the increase in selec-tivity towards methyl lactate on 15% at 100% conversion of fructose. Prod-ucts of the target reaction С6Н12О6 + 2СН3ОН = 2С4Н8О3 + 2Н2О were ana-lyzed using 13C NMR method. The following process conditions for obtaining of 65 mol% methyl lactate yield at 100% fructose conversion were found: use of 4.8 wt.% fructose solution in 80% methanol, 180 °С, 3.0 МПа and a load on catalyst 1.5 mmol C6H12O6/mlcat/h at contact time of 11 minutes. The cata-lyst productivity is 2.0 mmol C4H8O3/mlcat/h and the by-productі are 1,3-dihydroxyacetone dimethyl acetal (20%) and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (10%). It should be noted that a racemic mixture of L- and D-methyl lactates has been obtained by conversion of D-fructose on the SnO2/Al2O3 catalyst. The SnO2/Al2O3 catalyst was found to be stable for 6 h while maintaining full fruc-tose conversion at 55–70% methyl lactate selectivity. After regeneration the catalyst completely restores the initial activity.
Glycerol Hydrogenolysis with In Situ Hydrogen Produced via Methanol Steam Reforming: The Promoting Effect of Pd on a Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 Catalyst
