Oxidative dehydrogenation of lactic acid to pyruvic acid over iron phosphate catalyst

Vapor-phase air oxidation of lactic acid has been carried out using an iron phosphate catalyst with a PFe atomic ratio of 1.2. It was found that lactic acid is selectively converted to form pyruvic acid by oxidative dehydrogenation. The one-pass yield reached 50 mol-%. The effects of the reaction variables on the formation of pyruvic acid were studied.