Catalytic conversion of oil palm fronds to levulinic acid in ionic liquid

Conversion of oil palm fronds (OPF) to levulinic acid (LA) over Fe/HY zeolite catalyst in BMIM[Br] ionic liquid has been investigated in this study. The optimization of OPF conversion reported 24.7% levulinic acid yield at 153 degrees C, 5.9 h, 0.96 g and 1.1 g of reaction temperature, reaction time, OPF loading and catalyst loading, respectively. The results indicated that BMIM[Br] could disrupt the covalent linkages in the OPF structures and dissolved the hollocellulose. This allowed the hollocellulose chains, accessible to the chemical transformation, to react and produce LA in presence of the Fe/HY catalyst. This study demonstrated that the combination of Fe/HY catalyst and BMIM[Br] has the potential to be applied for biomass conversion to LA under adequate process conditions.