Chemo‐ and Regioselective Synthesis of Arylated γ‐Valerolactones from Bio‐based Levulinic Acid with Aromatics Using H‐β Zeolite Catalyst

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Catalytic coupling of biomass‐based molecules to value‐added chemical intermediates is an interesting area in biomass research. Arylated γ‐valerolactones (Agvls), promising pharmaceutical intermediates that have significant biological activity, are primarily synthesized currently through petro‐route. In this paper, we report successful biomass‐based synthesis of Agvls using levulinic acid (LA) and oxygen or sulphur‐ substituted aromatics over H‐β zeolite as catalyst under solvent‐free conditions. Under optimized condition, LA and anisole render 90 % conversion of former with 82 % yield of para‐substituted γ‐lactone. C−C bond formation followed by intra‐molecular esterification is witnessed in the course of the reaction, which is highly chemo‐ and regioselective. Though catalyst deactivated while reuse due to deposition of organic carbon moieties as deduced from several physicochemical techniques, it could be regenerated by simple calcination.