@article {46180, title = {Efficient synergetic combination of H-USY and SnO2 for direct conversion of glucose into ethyl levulinate (Biofuel Additive)}, journal = {Energy \& Fuels}, volume = {33}, year = {2019}, month = {MAR}, pages = {2319-2327}, type = {Article}, abstract = {

Ethyl levulinate (EL), a biofuel additive for petroleum and biodiesel can also be used as a 100\% fuel to replace petroleum diesel with the existing diesel engine. The major problem to make the EL process economical is the lack of a proper conversion technology to convert C-6 sugars such as glucose with higher yield of EL as well as process which can tolerate higher glucose concentration to increase productivity. The present study highlighted the catalytic synthesis of EL from glucose over synergetic combination of zeolite H-USY and Lewis acidic catalysts such as Sn-beta, TiO2, ZrO2, and SnO2. Because of the strong Lewis acidic nature and the subsequent enhancement in the isomerization rate from glucosides to fructosides, the synergetic combination of H-USY with SnO2 showed higher EL yield than the combination with other Lewis acidic catalysts. So far, the highest EL yield of 81\% from glucose (50 g/L) at 180 degrees C in 3 h was achieved over the optimal combination of 95\% H-USY and 5\% SnO2 having strong/weak acidity and B/L ratios of 1.30 and 0.75, respectively. The study was further extended for establishing the proposed reaction mechanism without the formation of 5-hydroxymethyl furfural, levulinic acid, and formic acid which makes the overall process clean and green.

}, issn = {0887-0624}, doi = {10.1021/acs.energyfuels.8b04395}, author = {Heda, Jidnyasa and Niphadkar, Prashant and Bokade, Vijay} } @article {47071, title = {Effect of rice husk particle size on ZSM-5 physico-chemical properties for selective formation of 1,3,5-trimethyl-2-benzylbenzene (Pharmaceutical Intermediate)}, journal = {ChemistrySelect}, volume = {6}, year = {2021}, month = {FEB }, pages = {1255-1262}, type = {Article}, abstract = {

Rice husk, rich in silica and abundantly available as waste, is presently destroyed by burning, which creates environmental issues. Thus, it will be advantageous if this rice husk waste can be used for preparation of valuable products. One of the application is its use as silica source in the synthesis of zeolites like ZSM-5, which are silico-aluminates. Rice husk waste is available in wide range of particle sizes in agricultural farms. There is no study available in open literature on use of these wide particle ranges for its direct application. This paper is an attempt to use wide particle size rice husk, its effect on ZSM-5 synthesis and its physico-chemical properties. Further these prepared ZSM-5 catalyst was evaluated for benzylation of mesitylene reaction. The study found that, rice husk of 600 mu m particle size is optimum as far as ZSM-5 synthesis, its physicochemical properties and further its application in mesitylene benzylation reaction.

}, keywords = {Mesitylene, Particle size, rice husk, Silica Source, ZSM-5}, issn = {2365-6549}, doi = {10.1002/slct.202004802}, author = {Ghuge, Gorakh and Niphadkar, Prashant and Rathod, Simmy and Bokade, Vijay V.} } @article {47983, title = {Enhanced anisole hydroxylation over a hierarchical micro/mesoporous TS-1 catalyst}, journal = {New Journal of Chemistry}, volume = {46}, year = {2022}, month = {AUG}, pages = {14667-14675}, type = {Article}, abstract = {

Hierarchical TS-1 materials were synthesized using hydrothermal synthesis and a post modification technique through desilication. They were evaluated for hydroxylation of anisole to produce industrially important chemicals, o-methoxyphenol (OMP) and p-methoxyphenol (PMP). The detailed characterization of the prepared catalysts, such as morphology, structure, nature of Ti and surface area were obtained by SEM, HR-TEM, XRD, UV-VIS spectroscopy and the BET technique. The effects of various operational parameters such as substrate/H2O2 molar ratio, reaction temperature, catalyst concentration and solvent effect on the hydroxylation of anisole have been studied in detail. The microporous TS-1 catalyst showed 32\% anisole conversion with 34\% selectivity to PMP, while the micro/mesoporous DTS-1 catalyst showed enhanced activity for anisole hydroxylation, i.e. 54\% conversion with 55\% selectivity towards PMP. The increased framework Ti and improved accessibility of the active sites located in the channels of DTS-1, which permit the mass transfer of reactants, transition states and products from the mesopores of DTS-1, were responsible for the enhanced catalytic activity and selectivity towards p-methoxyphenol.

}, issn = {1144-0546}, doi = {10.1039/d2nj01556k}, author = {Patil, Chetana R. and Niphadkar, Prashant and Kamble, Sanjay P. and Rode, V. Chandrashekhar} } @article {48257, title = {Effect of acidity and mesoporosity in H-USY on conversion of wheat straw to ethyl levulinate (Biofuel additive)}, journal = {Journal of the Indian Chemical Society}, volume = {100}, year = {2023}, month = {FEB}, pages = {100883}, type = {Article}, abstract = {

Cold flow properties of biodiesel can be improved by addition of additives especially ethyl levulinate (EL up to 20\%). There are very limited information on synthesis of EL from actual raw biomass like wheat straw over heterogeneous catalyst. The present article elaborated on optimization of Acidity to Mesoporosity ratio in H-USY, which is crucial for its application in conversion of raw wheat straw to selective formation of EL in one-step. The acidity and mesoporosity is monitor by systematic post treatment of desilication and dealumination. Optimum acidity/mesoporosity ratio of 3.6 in HUSY resulted in to maximum EL yield of 24.5\%, which is probably the highest so far.

}, keywords = {Acidity, Biofuel additive, Dealumination, Desilication, ethyl levulinate, H-USY, Mesoporosity, Wheat straw}, issn = {0019-4522}, doi = {10.1016/j.jics.2023.100883}, author = {Heda, Jidnyasa and Niphadkar, Prashant and Nandanwar, Sachin and Bokade, Vijay} }