Titanate nanotubes-bonded organosulfonic acid as solid acid catalyst for synthesis of butyl levulinate.

In this study, titanate nanotubes-bonded organosulfonic acid (TNTs-SOH) was prepared and employed as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for esterification of levulinic acid with -butanol. Two reaction products pseudo -butyl levulinate (pseudo-BL) and -butyl levulinate (BL) were detected by GC-MS. The catalyst showed 86.8% conversion of levulinic acid with 99.7% selectivity towards -butyl levulinate. TNTs-SOH exhibited strong acidic sites and high stability even after seven cycles of usage and would be well expected to be a potential candidate for alkyl levulinate production.