Zinc-Incorporated Microporous Molecular Sieve for Mild Catalytic Hydrolysis of γ-Valerolactone: A New Selective Route for Biomass Conversion.

γ-Valerolactone (GVL) is regarded as a key platform molecule in the production of fine chemicals such as pentenoic acid (PA) from biomass. Although PA is believed to be the key intermediate in solid-acid-catalyzed reactions of GVL, due to subsequent facile decarboxylation reactions further alkene products are formed. Here, by tailoring the acidity of Brønsted acid sites in an aluminophosphate (AlPO) molecular sieve through incorporation of Zn2+ into the framework, we access a new selective and effective catalyst for GVL conversion to PA.