Selective glycerol transformations to high value-added products catalysed by aluminosilicate-supported iron oxide nanoparticles

Abstract

Conversion of glycerol to cyclic acetals (with paraformaldehyde, benzaldehyde, furfural and acetone) and to mono-, di-and triacetylglycerides (with levulinic acid) was investigated using a supported iron oxide nanoparticle system of a mesoporous aluminosilicate heterogeneous catalyst (Fe/Al-SBA-15). The effect of various parameters on the reaction, temperature, mol% of catalyst or ratio of glycerol : substrate were studied. An optimization of the reaction conditions carried out with glycerol by means of experimental design methodology showed that a very high glycerol conversion (99%) and high combined selectivity toward di-and triacetylglycerides could be obtained under optimized conditions. All of the acetalisation reactions carried out at 100°C also gave good to excellent conversions and selectivities to target products, illustrating the potential of Fe/Al-SBA-15 as a highly active, stable and reusable heterogeneous catalyst in glycerol acid-catalysed transformations.

An Overview of Recent Research in the Conversion of Glycerol into Biofuels, Fuel Additives and other Bio-Based Chemicals

“…When the resultant catalyst was tested in the esterification of glycerol with acetic acid, the mesoporous support with 15 wt% MPA exhibited a superior catalytic activity with complete conversion of glycerol (100%) with a selectivity of 14%, 67% and 19% towards mono-, di-and triacetin at 110 • C, 6:1 molar ratio of acetic acid to glycerol in 3 h. The catalyst was recycled four times and was found to be stable. The use of supported iron oxide nanoparticle system of a mesoporous aluminosilicate (Fe/Al-SBA-15) catalyst with >99% glycerol conversion to a mixture of 71% di-and 28% triacetin was reported [121]. Though levulinic acid was used as against the conventional acetic acid but the catalyst remains stable even after five consecutive cycles.…”

“…The use of supported iron oxide nanoparticle system of a mesoporous aluminosilicate heterogeneous catalyst (Fe/Al-SBA-15) in acetalization of glycerol with paraformaldehyde, benzaldehyde, furfural and acetone was investigated at 100 • C [121]. All the reactions gave very good conversion and selectivity to glycerol formal.…”

The role of mesoporosity and Si/Al ratio in the catalytic etherification of glycerol with benzyl alcohol using ZSM-5 zeolites

“…Glycerol has a large number of applications in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food industries [5,6]. Currently, chemical efforts focus on finding new uses for glycerol to output large surplus produced by industry and turn it into products with high added value [7,8] The catalytic transformation of glycerol into various chemicals by hydrogenolysis [9,10], polymerization [11] etherification [12,13], oxidation [14], dehydration [15,16], esterification [17] and acetalysation [18], among other, has been reported.…”

Clay‐Based Solid Acid Catalyst for the Alkylation of p‐Cresol with tert‐Butyl Alcohol

“…The use of solid acids, such as supported heteropoly acids having high catalytic efficiency, results in high solubility in polar media and hence there is difficulty in separation from the reaction medium. [22] The main drawback of sulphated zirconia is that it is prone to deactivation after one reaction usage due to the formation of coke precursors. Ionic liquids suffer from drawbacks such as toxicity during their preparation, high cost and their disposal after reaction.…”