Synthesis of glycidol and glycerol carbonate from glycerol and dimethyl carbonate using deep-eutectic solvent as a catalyst

Abstract

A series of deep-eutectic solvents (DESs) with potassium hydroxide as hydrogen bonding acceptor and monoethanolamine (MEA) or polyethylene glycol (PEG) as hydrogen bonding donor were prepared and used as catalyst for the synthesis of glycidol and glycerol carbonate from glycerol and dimethyl carbonate. The effect of reaction parameter (reaction temperature, dimethyl carbonate/glycerol molar ratio, catalyst amount and reaction time) on the reaction was investigated in detail. It is found that the activity of KOH:MEA DES catalyst is related with its basicity. The KOH:MEA(1:2) exhibits higher catalytic activity, which may be due to the strong hydrogen bonding action between KOH:MEA(1:2) and reactants. The reaction kinetics model is also established and the reaction rate constant and active energy for each reaction are obtained by fitting the experimental data. The component concentration calculated by the kinetics model is close to the one of the experimental value.