Esterification of levulinic acid to ethyl levulinate over bimodal micro-mesoporous H/BEA zeolite derivatives

A series of bimodal micro-mesoporous H/BEA zeolite derivatives were prepared by the post-synthesis modification of H/BEA zeolite by NaOH (0.05 M-1.2 M) treatment Samples were characterized by powder XRD, low temperature nitrogen adsorption/desorption, temperature programmed desorption of ammonia and ICP. The mesopore formation was found to play a crucial role in liquid phase esterification of levulinic acid with ethanol. The enhanced catalytic activity of a bimodal micro-mesoporous H/BEA zeolite derivative (H/BEA(0.10)) prepared by treatment with 0.1M NaOH can be mainly attributed to the high mesoporosity coupled with better preserved crystallinity and acidic properties. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.