Hydrothermal conversion of glucose into organic acids with bentonite as a solid-base catalyst

•A first study of bentonite catalyzing glucose conversion into organic acids.•First demonstration of base catalytic activity of bentonite in glucose conversion to lactic acid.•First demonstration of improving role of bentonite in conversion of glucose to acetic acid.•Yields: lactic acid, 11%; acetic acid, 27%; total organic acid: 38%.

In this study, a new process of using bentonite as a solid base catalyst in the hydrothermal conversion of glucose into lactic acid was proposed. Results showed that bentonite can act as a solid-base catalyst in conversion of glucose into lactic acid, and the yield of lactic acid increased from 5% in the absence bentonite to 11% in the presence of bentonite. Also, it was found that the presence of bentonite can greatly improve the production of acetic acid, and a considerably high acetic acid yield of 27% could be obtained in the two-step reaction. Since the bentonite is quite cheap and abundant in nature, the reported results should be helpful to facilitate studies for developing a new and green process for the conversion of carbohydrate biomass into value-added chemicals.

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