Efficient Conversion of Biomass Derived Levulinic Acid to γ-Valerolactone Using Hydrosilylation

Abstract

Converting biomass into value-added chemicals is of significant interest and we report an efficient hydrosilylation to convert levulinic acid to γ-valerolactone using cost-effective silanes such as PMHS and TMDS with B(C6F5)3 as catalyst. This metal free methodology works at room temperature reaching TONs and TOFs up to 16000 and 2000 h−1. Insights into the reaction mechanism are reported.