Biomass-Derived Sugars to Levulinic Acids By the Sulfonated Graphene Oxides

Heterogeneous graphene oxide (GO)-based catalysts with  sulfonic acid (SO₃H) functional groups (GO–SO₃H) were used for selective decomposition of hexose sugars (glucose and fructose) to levulinic acid (LA), which has been used as a platform chemical for various value-added derivatives. The as-prepared GO–SO₃H catalysts gave excellent yields of around 78% for LA for a reaction time of 2 h, and showed compatibility of reuse with reliable performance. The chemical transformation patterns for hexose sugar decompositions are affected by temperature, the density of acid sites, and type of catalyst. The excellent catalytic performance of GO–SO₃H has been determined to be the result of higher density of Brønsted acid sites in GO, compared with the Lewis acid sites in other AC–SO₃H catalysts. The morphologies, surface characteristics, and other physiochemical properties were evaluated using several characterization techniques. Here we will discuss the effects of catalysts, processing parameters and characterization of catalysts in catalytic transformation of biomass hexoses to chemicals.