Microwave-accelerated direct synthesis of 3-picoline from glycerol through a liquid phase reaction pathway

Abstract

A novel route for the synthesis of 3-picoline from glycerol via liquid phase reaction under mild condition, using microwave irradiation, had been well established. The heating mode had a profound effect on the yield of 3-picoline. The formation of 3-picoline could be promoted significantly by microwave heating, however, only very little amount of 3-picoline was generated by conventional heating under the reaction conditions employed in this study. Influencing factors were systemically investigated on the basis of a HAc-catalyzed under microwave irradiation. Additionally, a lot of heterogeneous catalysts were screened. It was found that as high as a 71% yield of 3-picoline was obtained with the mass ratio of pure glycerol/ammonium acetate/acetic acid/TiO₂ = 1/3/10/0.2 at 373 K, after only 20 min of microwave irradiation. A catalyst pair (HAc and TiO₂) exhibited better catalytic performance relative to other catalysts in this work. Accordingly, microwave assistance together with the catalysts achieved effective transformation of glycerol to 3-picoline under mild conditions. The related plausible reaction mechanisms were also proposed.