Mild decarboxylation of neat muconic acid to levulinic acid: a combined experimental and computational mechanistic study.

Levulinic acid (LA) is a key platform molecule with current applications in the synthesis of several commodity chemicals, including amino-levulinic acid, succinic acid, and valerolactone. In contrast to existing petroleum-based synthesis pathway, biomass-derived --muconic acid (MA) offers a sustainable route to synthesize LA. Here, we show the complete decarboxylation of neat MA to LA without solvent at atmospheric pressure and mild temperature.

Simultaneous removal of organic and inorganic pollutants from water by Ni/NiO/SnO nanoparticles.

Herein, we report a facile synthesis of Ni/NiO/SnO hybrids where the core-shell-type Ni/NiO nanoparticle is decorated with the SnO nanoparticle to make a heterojunction and their potential evaluation for simultaneous removal of organic and inorganic pollutants. The metallic nickel core of the nanoparticle helps to separate easily from water magnetically and restricts the possible secondary contamination. The formation of semiconductor-semiconductor heterojunction enhances the photocatalytic activity to degrade the organic pollutants.