Feng Shixiang君、高橋香紀君が中心となって行ったグリセロールから乳酸への一段変換に関する研究成果がFuel Process. Tech.誌 (Elsevier)にAcceptされました。Our paper reporting one-pot synthesis of lactic acid from glycerol over a Pt/L-Nb2O5 catalyst was accepted in Fuel Process. Tech. (Elsevier).

「One-pot synthesis of lactic acid from glycerol over a Pt/L-Nb₂O₅ catalyst under base-free conditions」.

Feng, Shixiang; Takahashi Kanori; Miura, Hiroki; Shishido, Tetsuya

Fuel Processing Technology, 2020, 197, 106202. DOI:10.1016/j.fuproc.2019.106202

Highly efficient and selective transformations of glycerol to valuable chemicals are currently an attractive and challenging target reaction in biorefineries.A bifunctional catalyst consisting of Pt nanoparticles (Pt NPs) and layered-Nb₂O₅(L-Nb₂O₅) efficiently catalyzed the one-pot conversion of glycerol to lactic acid (LA) in water under an oxygen atmosphere without the use of any additives such as strong bases. Mechanistic studies revealed that glycerol was initially oxidized to dihydroxyacetone and glyceraldehyde through dehydrogenation on Pt NPs. After the dehydration step catalyzed by acid sites on L-Nb₂O₅, the dehydrated intermediate pyruvic aldehyde was converted exclusively on Lewis acid sites, rather than a Brønsted acid,to produce LA through the Cannizzaro reaction. These experimental results represent the successful development of a binary catalyst consisting of metal NPs and solid acid, Pt/L-Nb₂O₅, for one-pot synthesis of LA from glycerol under additive-free conditions.