Computational Mechanism of Methyl Levulinate Conversion to γ-Valerolactone on UiO-66 Metal Organic Frameworks

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are gaining importance in the field of biomass conversion and valorization due to their porosity, well-defined active sites, and broad tunability. But for a proper catalyst design, we first need detailed insight of the system at the atomic level. Herein, we present the reaction mechanism of methyl levulinate to γ-valerolactone on Zr-based UiO-66 by means of periodic density functional theory (DFT). We demonstrate the role of Zr-based nodes in the catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) and cyclization steps. From there, we perform a computational screening to reveal key catalyst modifications to improve the process, such as node doping and linker exchange.