Isosorbide production from sorbitol over porous zirconium phosphate catalyst

Abstract

A porous zirconium phosphate catalyst prepared by hydrothermal method was studied for the dehydration of sorbitol to isosorbide under water-free conditions. Various characterization techniques such as XRD, Raman, SEM, NH3-TPD and Pyridine adsorption etc were conducted to determine the textural and acidic properties of the catalyst so as to build the relationship between catalytic performance and catalyst structure. In screening tests with other solid acids, the as-prepared ZrP sample exhibited the promising catalytic behavior for isosorbide production probably assigned to its high surface area, porous structure and the adequate Brönsted acid sites. Full sorbitol conversion with as high as 73% isosorbide selectivity could be obtained at mild conditions (210°C, 2h). Noticeably, the ZrP catalyst could be repeatedly used without any obvious deactivation. Generally, the ZrP catalyst studied in this work possessed a great potentiality as an efficient heterogeneous solid acid catalyst for isosorbide production to diminish the application of homogeneous mineral acid.