Efficient Synthesis of Methyl Lactate from Glucose over Postsynthesized Sn-Beta Zeolites: Switching Selectivity by Tuning Surface Acidity

Mykhailo Kurmach; Serhii Poliakov; Ivan Kopa; Oleh Lytiuha; Kateryna Diakun; Mark E. Martínez-Klimov; Oleksiy Shvets; Dmitry Yu Murzin; Nataliya Shcherban

doi:10.1021/acsami.5c08698

Efficient Synthesis of Methyl Lactate from Glucose over Postsynthesized Sn-Beta Zeolites: Switching Selectivity by Tuning Surface Acidity

Mykhailo Kurmach
, Serhii Poliakov
, Ivan Kopa
, Oleh Lytiuha
, Kateryna Diakun
, Mark E. Martínez-Klimov
, Oleksiy Shvets
, Dmitry Yu Murzin
, Nataliya Shcherban^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In this contribution, several Sn-β zeolites with variable Sn content and acid characteristics were prepared by regulated postsynthetic incorporation of Sn into predealuminated Beta zeolites and investigated in detail in terms of their surface properties, namely, using FTIR pyridine and deuterated acetonitrile, as well as XPS. The obtained zeolites were applied to the catalytic conversion of glucose in methanol to yield methyl lactate. Precise regulation of the tin amount (close to stoichiometric Si/Sn ratio) allowed us to obtain catalysts which afforded up to 63.5% yield of methyl lactate even without additional alkaline treatments. No clear correlations of the yield of methyl lactate on the concentration of Brønsted acid sites and LAS/BAS were observed, while a decrease in the fraction of silanol groups was beneficial for the selective formation of the desired product. An increase in site density (the ratio of the framework Sn concentration from FTIR CD₃CN to mesopore specific surface area) resulted in elevated catalytic performance of the Sn-Beta zeolites.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	50639-50649
Number of pages	11
Journal	ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Volume	17
Issue number	36
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.5c08698
Publication status	Published - 10 Sept 2025
MoE publication type	A1 Journal article-refereed

Funding

Authors are grateful to Max Planck Institute for Coal Research for help with SEM. The support of the National Research Foundation of Ukraine to the project “Creation of new bifunctional zeolite catalysts for one-pot cascade processes of conversion of platform molecules from biomass into fuels and industrially valuable organic compounds” (project number 2023.03/0139) is greatly acknowledged. N.S. is grateful to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for a personal scholarship for young scientists─doctors of sciences for 2024.

Keywords

glucose
Lewis acid sites
methyl lactate
postsynthesized zeolites
silanols
Sn-containing zeolites

Access to Document

10.1021/acsami.5c08698

Cite this

Kurmach, M., Poliakov, S., Kopa, I., Lytiuha, O., Diakun, K., Martínez-Klimov, M. E., Shvets, O., Murzin, D. Y., & Shcherban, N. (2025). Efficient Synthesis of Methyl Lactate from Glucose over Postsynthesized Sn-Beta Zeolites: Switching Selectivity by Tuning Surface Acidity. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 17(36), 50639-50649. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.5c08698

@article{1bb8609c14af48ac96b5a6852d6deec7,

title = "Efficient Synthesis of Methyl Lactate from Glucose over Postsynthesized Sn-Beta Zeolites: Switching Selectivity by Tuning Surface Acidity",

abstract = "In this contribution, several Sn-β zeolites with variable Sn content and acid characteristics were prepared by regulated postsynthetic incorporation of Sn into predealuminated Beta zeolites and investigated in detail in terms of their surface properties, namely, using FTIR pyridine and deuterated acetonitrile, as well as XPS. The obtained zeolites were applied to the catalytic conversion of glucose in methanol to yield methyl lactate. Precise regulation of the tin amount (close to stoichiometric Si/Sn ratio) allowed us to obtain catalysts which afforded up to 63.5\% yield of methyl lactate even without additional alkaline treatments. No clear correlations of the yield of methyl lactate on the concentration of Br{\o}nsted acid sites and LAS/BAS were observed, while a decrease in the fraction of silanol groups was beneficial for the selective formation of the desired product. An increase in site density (the ratio of the framework Sn concentration from FTIR CD3CN to mesopore specific surface area) resulted in elevated catalytic performance of the Sn-Beta zeolites.",

keywords = "glucose, Lewis acid sites, methyl lactate, postsynthesized zeolites, silanols, Sn-containing zeolites",

author = "Mykhailo Kurmach and Serhii Poliakov and Ivan Kopa and Oleh Lytiuha and Kateryna Diakun and Mart{\'i}nez-Klimov, \{Mark E.\} and Oleksiy Shvets and Murzin, \{Dmitry Yu\} and Nataliya Shcherban",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 American Chemical Society",

year = "2025",

month = sep,

day = "10",

doi = "10.1021/acsami.5c08698",

language = "English",

volume = "17",

pages = "50639--50649",

journal = "ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces",

issn = "1944-8244",

publisher = "American chemical society",

number = "36",

}

Kurmach, M, Poliakov, S, Kopa, I, Lytiuha, O, Diakun, K, Martínez-Klimov, ME, Shvets, O, Murzin, DY & Shcherban, N 2025, 'Efficient Synthesis of Methyl Lactate from Glucose over Postsynthesized Sn-Beta Zeolites: Switching Selectivity by Tuning Surface Acidity', ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, vol. 17, no. 36, pp. 50639-50649. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.5c08698

TY - JOUR

T1 - Efficient Synthesis of Methyl Lactate from Glucose over Postsynthesized Sn-Beta Zeolites

T2 - Switching Selectivity by Tuning Surface Acidity

AU - Kurmach, Mykhailo

AU - Poliakov, Serhii

AU - Kopa, Ivan

AU - Lytiuha, Oleh

AU - Diakun, Kateryna

AU - Martínez-Klimov, Mark E.

AU - Shvets, Oleksiy

AU - Murzin, Dmitry Yu

AU - Shcherban, Nataliya

PY - 2025/9/10

Y1 - 2025/9/10

N2 - In this contribution, several Sn-β zeolites with variable Sn content and acid characteristics were prepared by regulated postsynthetic incorporation of Sn into predealuminated Beta zeolites and investigated in detail in terms of their surface properties, namely, using FTIR pyridine and deuterated acetonitrile, as well as XPS. The obtained zeolites were applied to the catalytic conversion of glucose in methanol to yield methyl lactate. Precise regulation of the tin amount (close to stoichiometric Si/Sn ratio) allowed us to obtain catalysts which afforded up to 63.5% yield of methyl lactate even without additional alkaline treatments. No clear correlations of the yield of methyl lactate on the concentration of Brønsted acid sites and LAS/BAS were observed, while a decrease in the fraction of silanol groups was beneficial for the selective formation of the desired product. An increase in site density (the ratio of the framework Sn concentration from FTIR CD3CN to mesopore specific surface area) resulted in elevated catalytic performance of the Sn-Beta zeolites.

AB - In this contribution, several Sn-β zeolites with variable Sn content and acid characteristics were prepared by regulated postsynthetic incorporation of Sn into predealuminated Beta zeolites and investigated in detail in terms of their surface properties, namely, using FTIR pyridine and deuterated acetonitrile, as well as XPS. The obtained zeolites were applied to the catalytic conversion of glucose in methanol to yield methyl lactate. Precise regulation of the tin amount (close to stoichiometric Si/Sn ratio) allowed us to obtain catalysts which afforded up to 63.5% yield of methyl lactate even without additional alkaline treatments. No clear correlations of the yield of methyl lactate on the concentration of Brønsted acid sites and LAS/BAS were observed, while a decrease in the fraction of silanol groups was beneficial for the selective formation of the desired product. An increase in site density (the ratio of the framework Sn concentration from FTIR CD3CN to mesopore specific surface area) resulted in elevated catalytic performance of the Sn-Beta zeolites.

KW - glucose

KW - Lewis acid sites

KW - methyl lactate

KW - postsynthesized zeolites

KW - silanols

KW - Sn-containing zeolites

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105015538964

U2 - 10.1021/acsami.5c08698

DO - 10.1021/acsami.5c08698

M3 - Article

C2 - 40875309

AN - SCOPUS:105015538964

SN - 1944-8244

VL - 17

SP - 50639

EP - 50649

JO - ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces

JF - ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces

IS - 36

ER -

Efficient Synthesis of Methyl Lactate from Glucose over Postsynthesized Sn-Beta Zeolites: Switching Selectivity by Tuning Surface Acidity

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this