MIL-53-NH2-derived carbon-Al2O3 composites supported Ru catalyst for effective hydrogenation of levulinic acid to γ-valerolactone under ambient conditions

[Display omitted] •Ultra-small Ru nanoparticles confined within C-Al2O3 honeycomb-like structure was successfully synthesized.•The Ru@C-Al2O3 catalyst is highly active for the hydrogenation of LA to GVL at ambient reaction condition.•The lowest activation energy for LA hydrogenation is achieved over the Ru@C-Al2O3 catalyst.•The catalyst is stable under reaction environment. Herein, we report the synthesis of stable and efficient novel Ru-embedded C-Al2O3 catalyst for the hydrogenation of levulinic acid (LA) to γ-valerolactone (GVL) in water under ambient condition. The prepared Ru@C-Al2O3 catalyst is characterized in detail using various physicochemical characterization techniques (XRD, XPS, Raman spectroscopy, TEM, TGA, and ICP-OES). The Ru nanoparticles confined within MIL-53-NH2-derived C-Al2O3 (denoted as Ru@C-Al2O3) show remarkable efficiency for the hydrogenation of LA into GVL (99.9% yield) under ambient reaction condition (hydrogen pressure 1 atm, 25 °C). The ultra-small particles size (1 nm) and high electron density surrounding Ru NPs resulted in excellent catalytic performance for the hydrogenation of LA. The Ru@C-Al2O3 catalyst is stable under reaction condition and exhibits consistent catalytic activity during recycle experiments. Furthermore, this catalyst shows lower activation energy (Ea =34.66 kJ mol−1) compared to the reported methods for the hydrogenation of LA to GVL.