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Microwave-assisted conversion of novel biomass materials into levulinic acid

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Abstract

Levulinic acid is considered one of the most important platform chemicals. It is currently produced mainly from lignocellulosic biomasses. However, there are also other abundant biomass materials, which could be used as raw materials for levulinic acid production. In this work, levulinic acid was produced from two novel biomasses in the presence of Brønsted (H2SO4) and Lewis acid (CrCl3·6H2O or AlCl3·6H2O) catalysts. The studied materials were carbohydrate-rich potato peel waste and sporocarps of the fungus Cortinarius armillatus. Reaction conditions, i.e., time, temperature, H2SO4, and Lewis acid concentrations, were studied by utilizing full 24-factorial experimental designs. Microwave irradiation was used as the heating method. Based on the results, the reaction temperature and the H2SO4 concentration had the greatest impact on the yield of levulinic acid. The highest yield obtained in this study from potato peel waste was 49% with 180 °C for reaction temperature, 15 min for reaction time, and 0.5 and 0.0075 M for the concentrations of H2SO4 and CrCl3, respectively. When Cortinarius armillatus was used as the raw material, the highest yield was 62% with 180 °C for reaction temperature, 40 min for reaction time, and 0.5 and 0.0075 M for the concentrations of H2SO4 and CrCl3, respectively.

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Abbreviations

PW:

peel waste

LA:

levulinic acid

S:

sporocarps

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Acknowledgements

Authors wish to thank Päivi Joensuu for her assistance with HPLC-PDA measurements.

Funding

This work was financially supported by Bioraff Botnia project (nr. 20200327, EU/Interreg Botnia-Atlantica), PREBIO project (EU, regional fund A70594), Maj and Tor Nessling Foundation (nr. 201800070) and Oulun läänin talousseuran maataloussäätiö.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Jyväskylä, Kokkola University Consortium Chydenius, Talonpojankatu 2 B, 67100, Kokkola, Finland

    Katja Lappalainen

  2. Research Unit of Sustainable Chemistry, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 3000, FI-90014, Oulu, Finland

    Katja Lappalainen, Nils Vogeler, Johanna Kärkkäinen, Yue Dong, Matti Niemelä, Annu Rusanen & Ulla Lassi

  3. Centria University of Applied Sciences, Talonpojankatu 2, 67100, Kokkola, Finland

    Yue Dong

  4. Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 3000, FI-90014, Oulu, Finland

    Anna Liisa Ruotsalainen, Piippa Wäli & Annamari Markkola

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  1. Katja Lappalainen
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  2. Nils Vogeler
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  3. Johanna Kärkkäinen
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  4. Yue Dong
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  10. Ulla Lassi
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Correspondence to Katja Lappalainen.

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Lappalainen, K., Vogeler, N., Kärkkäinen, J. et al. Microwave-assisted conversion of novel biomass materials into levulinic acid. Biomass Conv. Bioref. 8, 965–970 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-018-0334-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-018-0334-6

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