Hierarchical Sn-Beta Zeolite Catalyst for the Conversion of Sugars to Alkyl Lactates

Enhancing the yield of alkyl lactate from sugars is in great demand but challengeable to accomplish. Here we report a facile but efficient route to make this by employing a hierarchical and Sn-containing Beta zeolite (Sn-Beta-H). The hierarporosity in the Sn-Beta-H facilitates the conversion of sugars into important intermediates for producing alkyl lactate in the competition with undesirable side reactions, thus outperforming the conventional Sn-zeolite catalysts in yielding alkyl lactate from a wide scope of sugars. Particularly, the yield of alkyl lactate could reach as high as 72.1% from sucrose. Importantly, the Sn-Beta-H is stable and can be easily recycled for five times with constant catalytic performances.