Synthesis of 5-aminolevulinic acid with nontoxic regents and renewable methyl levulinate.

Synthesis of 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) was presented with novel bromination of biobased methyl levulinate (ML), followed by ammoniation and hydrolysis. Copper bromide (CuBr2) was employed as the bromination reagent with higher selectivity and activity instead of the conventional liquid bromine (Br2). 5-ALA was obtained in a high yield (64%) and purity (>95%) by optimum design, which is of great potential in industrialization.