Rebekah Oakes University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering

1. Rebekah Oakes University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering Professor James Dumesic Production of Glycolic Acid from Glyoxal over a Heterogeneous Catalyst Research Goal Produce glycolic acid from glyoxal using a heterogeneous catalyst, specifically a Sn-BEA catalyst Payoff Develop glycolic acid production process with reduced temperature and pressure requirements and uses a heterogeneous catalyst Figure 2. Glycolic acid yields over different catalysts. Approach Use two glyoxal sources and several catalysts to determine the combination producing the greatest glycolic acid yield. • Results • Glycolic acid was successfully produced. • Sn-BEA catalyst was found to be the most active. • Reaction temperature was reduced compared to literature (110°C vs 165°C). • Conventional acid catalysts gave lowest yields. Figure 1.Proposed reaction scheme