Abstract
Dimethyl carbonate (DMC) is an environmentally friendly versatile chemical widely which is employed as solvent, and as methylation and carbonylation agent. DMC has a high blend octane number, having the potential of being used as a fuel additive. This chapter describes two processes for DMC synthesis, which avoid the disadvantages of the traditional methanol phosgenation route. The direct synthesis from methanol and carbon dioxide is an environmentally interesting process. Membrane reactors are suggested as a way of overcoming the equilibrium limitations, by continuous removal of water by-product. Alternatively, the same raw materials can be used in a more complex route. Thus, DMC is obtained by the transesterification reaction between propylene carbonate (PC) and methanol, where operation at an excess of PC avoids the costly separation of the methanol—DMC azeotrope. The reaction of the propylene glycol by-product with urea leads to PC (recycled) and ammonia (converted to urea by reaction with carbon dioxide).
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