This white crystalline solid is soluble in water and polar organic solvents.

It is derived from degradation of cellulose and is a potential precursor to biofuels,[2] such as ethyl levulinate.

[4] The first commercial production of levulinic acid began as a batchwise process in an autoclave by starch manufacturer A. E. Staley in the 1940s.

[7] and in 2004 the US Department of Energy (U.S. DoE) identified levulinic acid as one of the 12 potential platform chemicals in the biorefinery concept.

Levulinic acid is a chemical building block or starting material for a wide variety of other compounds[14] including γ-valerolactone and 2-methyl-THF.