Clean and selective production of γ-valerolactone from biomass-derived levulinic acid catalyzed by recyclable Pd nanoparticle catalyst

Clean and highly selective production of biofuel γ-valerolactone (GVL) from biomass-derived levulinic acid (LA) was reported in one-pot on a series of robust, stable and reusable Pd nanoparticles in water solvent. The utilized Pd nanoparticles catalysts were facilely synthesized in the mesoporous channel of various supports (e.g., MCM-41, ZrMCM-41 and TiMCM-41). The experimental results indicated that Pd nanoparticles catalysts can highly selectively produce GVL with 96.3% yield at the perfect conversion of LA. Additionally, these Pd-nanoparticles catalysts were easy to be recycled and behaved stable performances over several runs, which may be a good candidate for the cleaner processing of biomass-derived resources. •A series of robust and stable Pd nanoparticles catalysts were successfully synthesized.•Clean and highly selective production of biofuel γ-valerolactone from levulinic acid.•Mesoporous channel prevented the leach and aggregation of Pd-catalyst in the reaction.•Pd nanoparticles catalysts exhibited stable performance over several runs.