Butyl levulinate (BL) is a promising new candidate as diesel fuel and fuel additive.In this study,an efficient process for a one-pot synthesis of BL from biomass-derived carbohydrates in butanol medium with the catalysis of metal sulfates was developed.The catalytic activity of a series of metal sulfates for the synthesis of BL from fructose was investigated.Among various metal sulfates,ferric sulfate Fe2(SO4)3 was found to be the most efficient catalyst,which gave a remarkably high BL yield of 62.8 mol% under the conditions of 463 K,3 h,a catalyst dosage of 5.0 g/L,and fructose concentration of 25 g/L.Different carbohydrates including glucose,cellulose,inulin and sucrose were also used for one-pot synthesis of BL with the catalysis of Fe2(SO4)3,showing the yields of 39.6,30.5,56.6 and 50.1 mol%,respectively.In addition,the recycling and reuse of Fe2(SO4)3 was studied by characterizing them using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD),scanning electron microscope (SEM),X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).A plausible reaction pathway for the one-pot synthesis of BL from fructose was proposed.This study provides a facile and feasible way for the synthesis of BL from biomass..