Issue 5, 2013

Synthesis of lactic acid from dihydroxyacetone: use of alkaline-earth metal hydroxides

Abstract

By-products from bio-based processes show great potential as renewable feedstock sources. In this context, upgrading the biodiesel by-product glycerol is highly promising. This paper focuses on the production of lactic acid from dihydroxyacetone, which is a primary oxidation product of glycerol, under mild reaction conditions (ambient pressure and temperatures below 90 °C) with alkaline-earth metal hydroxides. Whereas both Ca(OH)2 and Ba(OH)2 effectively catalysed the formation of lactic acid in the liquid phase, lactic acid was not formed with Mg(OH)2 at 25 °C. The final yield was higher with Ca(OH)2 (59%) than with Ba(OH)2 (50%). With Ca(OH)2, increasing reaction temperatures resulted in higher reaction rates. At 85 °C, however, competing side and degradation reactions were dominating, limiting the yield of lactic acid to 36%. We demonstrated that the method can be directly applied to dihydroxyacetone in fermentation broths. This research opens up a new synthesis route for lactic acid from dihydroxyacetone and glycerol, respectively.

Graphical abstract: Synthesis of lactic acid from dihydroxyacetone: use of alkaline-earth metal hydroxides

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
13 Dec 2012
Accepted
26 Feb 2013
First published
15 Mar 2013

Catal. Sci. Technol., 2013,3, 1380-1385

Synthesis of lactic acid from dihydroxyacetone: use of alkaline-earth metal hydroxides

S. Lux and M. Siebenhofer, Catal. Sci. Technol., 2013, 3, 1380 DOI: 10.1039/C3CY20859A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements