Synthesis of methyl propyl carbonate via gas-phase transesterification over TiO 2/Al 2O 3

Abstract

A heterogeneous catalyst, TiO 2 supported on Al 2O 3 was used for the synthesis methyl propyl carbonate (MPC) by the transesterification of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) and propanol. The morphological and chemical states of titanium species in TiO 2/Al 2O 3 were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and CO 2-TPD, respectively. The effect of reaction conditions, such as temperature, gaseous hourly space velocity (GHSV), and the molar ratio of propanol/DMC on the reaction were discussed. The results showed that under the optimized reaction conditions, the reaction temperature 403 K, the molar ratio of propanol/DMC of 0.5:1, and a GHSV 360 h −1, the conversion of DMC was 62%, the yields of MPC was 51%.