Abstract
Two new continuous flow systems for the production of dialkyl succinates were developed via the esterification of succinic acid, and via the trans-esterification of dimethyl succinate. The first microwave-assisted continuous esterification of succinic acid with H2SO4 as a chemical homogeneous catalyst was successfully achieved via a single pass (ca 320 s) at 65–115 °C using a MiniFlow 200ss Sairem Technology. The first continuous trans-esterification of dimethyl succinate with lipase Cal B as an enzymatic catalyst was developed using a Syrris Asia Technology, with an optimal reaction condition of 14 min at 40 °C. Dialkyl succinates were produced with the two technologies, but higher productivity was observed for the microwave-assisted continuous esterification using chemical catalysts. The continuous flow trans-esterification demonstrated a number of advantages, but it resulted in lower yield of the target esters.
Highlights
Introductionsuccinic acid (SA) is mainly produced via a chemical catalytic route starting from maleic acid and maleic anhydride
With the depletion of oil-based resources, wood-based biomass and especially plant waste rich in lignocellulosic feedstocks appear to be the main alternatives for the production of platform molecules.Among them, succinic acid (SA) as a linear C-4 dicarboxylic acid is considered as one of the top 12 prospective building blocks derived from sugars by the US Department of Energy
Succinic acid (SA) as a linear C-4 dicarboxylic acid is considered as one of the top 12 prospective building blocks derived from sugars by the US Department of Energy
Summary
SA is mainly produced via a chemical catalytic route starting from maleic acid and maleic anhydride. The use of furan-derived SA at laboratory-scale using chemical process, as well as via biotechnological process (i.e., by fermentation) have been studied [1]. SA can be used as a precursor to produce different chemical intermediates [2], such as tetrahydrofuran [3], γ-butyrolactone [4], and 1,4-butanediol [5]. Different processes using chemical homogeneous catalysis [7,8,9,10], heterogeneous catalysis [11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21], and chemo-enzymatic reaction [22]
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