A critical review on suitability and catalytic production of butyl levulinate as a blending molecule for green diesel

•Compatibility of biomass derived diesel blending molecule butyl levulinate have been reviewed.•Butyl levulinate has shown most promising properties as a diesel additive.•A cetane enhancer is required for butyl levulinate blending in diesel.•Molecular structure of feedstock directly affects the butyl levulinate yield.•Catalyst properties and acidity determines feedstock conversion and butyl levulinate yield. Butyl levulinate (BL), derived from bio-renewable resources, is a potential blending molecule for diesel fuel. Thus, essential characteristics such as boiling point, melting point, flash point, cetane number, calorific value, kinematic viscosity, density, and surface tension of different biorenewable molecules have been assessed. It is found that the BL can be the most suitable blending molecule for diesel fuel. Post this, the current state of the art for BL production via bio-chemo-catalytic routes has been reviewed. In particular, mechanistic insight into the role of feedstock structure such as levulinic acid, furfuryl alcohol, monosaccharides including fructose, glucose, xylose, polysaccharides including cellulose, inulin, sucrose and lignocellulosic biomass on BL production have been developed. It is followed by a critical discussion of the catalyst's physicochemical properties such as physical state, structure, functional groups, acidity, surface area, and pore size to elucidate their effect on each reactant conversion and BL yield. Thus, the current review focuses on the suitability of BL as a potential blending molecule and its production methods for application in green diesel.