Conversion of biomass-derived carbohydrates to methyl lactate using solid base catalysts

A study of the liquid-phase conversion of biomass-derived sugars directly to methyl lactate catalyzed over solid base catalysts is presented. The yield of methyl lactate reached 29.45% under optimal reaction conditions. The effects of reaction time, reaction temperature, and catalysts calcination temperature were investigated. Fresh and used catalysts were characterized by XRD, CO2-TPD, and N2-adsorption techniques. MgO with the highest concentration of weakly basic sites was found to show the highest catalytic activity for the conversion of sugars to methyl lactate.

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► Biomass-derived sugars were used as feedstock.
► MgO calcined at 800 °C·min was found to be the one with highest catalytic activity.
► Methyl lactate could be separated easily from reaction mixture via distillation.