Aqueous Hydrogenation of Levulinic Acid to 1,4-Pentanediol over Mo-Modified Ru/Activated Carbon Catalyst.

A highly efficient and green process was developed for direct conversion of levulinic acid into 1,4-pentanediol over Mo-modified Ru/activated carbon (AC) catalyst in a continuous fixed-bed reactor. The Ru-MoOx /AC catalyst was found to be efficient for the aqueous-phase hydrogenation of levulinic acid to 1,4-pentanediol, whereby a high yield (96.7 mol %) of 1,4-pentanediol was obtained under mild reaction conditions (70 °C, 4 MPa H2 ).