Upgrading of triose sugars on Sn-containing Lewis acid solids

J.I. DI COSIMO; EDUARDO A. PIGHIN; VERONICA DIEZ

Río de Janeiro

Simposio; 8th International Symposium on Acid-Base Catalysis; 2017

Alkyl lactates can be obtainedfrom renewable resources. They are high boiling point liquids used as solventsand plasticizers; they also take part in pharmaceutical, cosmetic and herbicidalformulations. In particular, ethyl lactate (EL) is widely used as a greensolvent to replace chlorinated hydrocarbons and in pharmaceuticalformulations. Here, we present our investigations on the synthesis of EL fromtriose sugars such as dihydroxyacetone (DHA) and ethanol, on inexpensive andeasily scalable alumina-supported Sn catalysts. Our catalysts transform DHAthrough a series of reaction steps leading to EL and other oxygenates. The roleof tin loading on the generation of surface acid sites and the participation ofSn species in the kinetically relevant reaction steps were studied. A pseudohomogeneousmechanism that well describes the complex reaction system was also postulated.