Issue 6, 2012

Highly-efficient conversion of glycerol to solketal over heterogeneous Lewis acid catalysts

Abstract

The acetalization of acetone with glycerol to yield 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxolane-4-methanol (solketal) was successfully catalyzed by mesoporous substituted silicates including the novel Hf-TUD-1 material. This reaction offers an attractive path for the conversion of glycerol, which is the main side-product in the synthesis of biodiesel, to a valuable compound with potential for industrial applications. The most promising among the heterogeneous catalysts employed in this work, Zr- and Hf-TUD-1 and Sn-MCM-41, display mainly Lewis acid properties as demonstrated by characterization with FT-IR analysis of pyridine adsorption, and achieve superior results compared to a reference solid acid catalyst such as Ultrastable zeolite Y. Especially the newly synthesized Hf-TUD-1, showing the highest conversion and turnover among the screened materials, is a promising catalyst for the acetalization of acetone with glycerol in a sustainable process. The excellent performance of these mesoporous catalysts is ascribed to their combination of acidity, wide pores, large specific surface area and relatively hydrophobic surface.

Graphical abstract: Highly-efficient conversion of glycerol to solketal over heterogeneous Lewis acid catalysts

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
16 Dec 2011
Accepted
19 Mar 2012
First published
11 Apr 2012

Green Chem., 2012,14, 1611-1619

Highly-efficient conversion of glycerol to solketal over heterogeneous Lewis acid catalysts

L. Li, T. I. Korányi, B. F. Sels and P. P. Pescarmona, Green Chem., 2012, 14, 1611 DOI: 10.1039/C2GC16619D

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements