Green and high-efficiency synthesis of 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate with ion exchange resins as Cr(III) support and collector

Abstract

The ion exchange resin supported chromium(III) is applied to catalyze the ring-opening reaction of ethylene oxide with acrylic acid and shows good catalytic performance. Based on the kinetics study, it is found that the heterogeneous chromium species rather than the chromium leaching from the support contribute significantly to the catalytic activity. The pore structure and functional groups of resin have a significant effect on the catalyst activity and stability. A distinctive activation process of chelate resin IRC748 supported Cr(III) is observed, which leads to improved activity and stability, and the corresponding activation mechanism is proposed. Compared with the conventional homogeneous system, the heterogeneous catalysis system with IRC748@Cr(III) show the advantages in terms of regeneration performance and productivity. Finally, a total chromium recycling process was developed to facilitate the green and highly efficient synthesis of HEA.