Solvent-free Benzylation of Glycerol by Benzyl Alcohol Using Heteropoly Acid Impregnated on K-10 Clay as Catalyst

• Main Authors: Devendra P. Tekale, Ganapati D. Yadav, Ajay K. Dalai
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-12-01
• Series: Catalysts
• Subjects: glycerol; benzylation; etherification; <i>mono</i>-benzyl glycerol ether; heteropolyacid
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4344/11/1/34

Value addition to glycerol, the sole co-product in biodiesel production, will lead to reform of the overall biodiesel economy. Different valuable chemicals can be produced from glycerol using heterogeneous catalysis and these valuable chemicals are useful in industries such as cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, fuels, soap, paints, and fine chemicals. Therefore, the conversion of glycerol to valuable chemicals using heterogeneous catalysis is a noteworthy area of research. Etherification of glycerol with alkenes or alcohols is an important reaction in converting glycerol to various value-added chemicals. This article describes reaction of glycerol with benzyl alcohol in solvent-free medium by using a clay supported modified heteropolyacid (HPA), Cs_2.5H_0.5PW₁₂O₄₀/K-10 (Cs-DTP/K-10) as solid catalyst and its comparison with other catalysts in a batch reactor. <i>Mono</i>-Benzyl glycerol ether (MBGE) was the major product formed in the reaction along with formation of <i>di</i>-benzyl glycerol ether (DBGE). The effects of different parameters were studied to optimize the reaction parameters. This work provides an insight into characterization of Cs_2.5H_0.5PW₁₂O₄₀/K-10 catalyst by advanced techniques such as surface area measurement, X-ray analysis, ICP-MS, FT-IR, and SEM. Reaction products were characterized and confirmed by using the GCMS method. The kinetic model was developed from an insight into the reaction mechanism. The apparent energy of activation was found to be 18.84 kcal/mol.