Conversion of levulinic acid to valuable chemicals: a review

Abstract Levulinic acid (LA), a class of important chemical intermediates and new energy chemicals, has been considered one of the top‐12 platform compounds that can be converted from biomass resources. Substantial progress on the conversion of lignocellulose biomass to LA and the further conversion of LA to high value downstream chemicals have been achieved recently. This review summarizes the preparation and separation processes of LA firstly, and then, emphatically discusses the catalytic system for LA conversion to valuable downstream products, including levulinate esters, 2‐methyl tetrahydrofuran (MTHF), Gamma‐valerolactone (GVL), 5‐aminolevulinic acid (DALA), and diphenolic acid (DPA). An outlook is provided at the end of this paper to highlight the challenges and opportunities for the comprehensive utilization of lignocellulose biomass. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).