A Magnetically Separable Catalyst for Synthesis of 1‐Phenoxy‐2‐propanol Via Atom‐economic Reaction

Abstract

A magnetically separable catalyst Al 2 O 3 -MgO/Fe 3 O 4 was prepared by Al 2 O 3 -MgO supported on magnetic oxide Fe 3 O 4 and charactered by FT-IR, XRD and SEM. The mixed oxides afforded high catalytic activity and selectivity for synthesis of 1-phenoxy-2-propanol from phenol and propylene oxide with 80.3% conversion and 88.1% selectivity to 1-phenoxy-2-propanol. Especially, facile separation of the catalyst by a magnet was obtained and the catalytic performance of the recovered catalyst was unaffected even at the forth run. CHEMICAL SOCIETY Company).Catalysis test: All the reactions were carried out in a sealed stainless-steel autoclave (500 mL) equipped with a mechanical stirrer and an electric heater. In a typical procedure, 30.1 g (0.32 mol) of phenol, 33 mL (0.47 mol) of propylene oxide and 3.0 g of catalyst were added into the reactor. After purging with N 2 flow for 5 times, the mixture was heated to the desired temperature under stirring. After the reaction was completed, the reaction mixture was cooled down to room temperature. The catalyst was separated by a magnet, washed with ethanol, dried and then used for the next run. The liquid samples were analyzed by GC and GC-MS. The conversion and yield was calculated on the basis of phenol. The reaction formula is shown in Scheme 1. CONCLUSIONSA magnetic separable catalyst Al 2 O 3 -MgO/Fe 3 O 4 was prepared by simple composition and used as a catalyst for the synthesis of 1-phenoxy-2-propanol (1-PhP) via an atomeconomic reaction of propylene oxide (PO) with phenol. It exhibited outstanding catalytic performance with 80.1% conversion and 88.3% selectivity to 1-PhP at 120°C for 8 h. The high activity and selectivity was ascribed to acidbase balance on the surface of the oxide composite. Espe-