Glycerol Acetylation with Propionic Acid Using Iron and Cobalt Oxides in Al-MCM-41 Catalysts

Fabio Ribeiro Tentor (Department of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Technology – Paraná, Apucarana 86812460, Paraná)
Diego Borelli Dias (Department of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Technology – Paraná, Apucarana 86812460, Paraná)
Mateus Rosolen Gomes (Department of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Technology – Paraná, Apucarana 86812460, Paraná)
João Guilherme Pereira Vicente (FACENS University Center, Sorocaba 18085784, São Paulo)
Lúcio Cardozo-Filho (State University of Maringá)
Marcio Eduardo Berezuk (Department of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Technology – Paraná, Apucarana 86812460, Paraná)

Bulletin of Chemical Reaction Engineering & Catalysis
2020: BCREC Volume 15 Issue 3 Year 2020 (December 2020)

In this work, Al-MCM-41 molecular sieves were synthesized, containing iron and/or cobalt oxides, impregnated by incipient wetness method, characterized and applied as catalysts in the acetylation reaction of glycerol with propionic acid to produce green glyceryl propionate molecules of high commercial value. According to this, X-ray Diffraction (XRD), X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), Fourier Transform Infra Red (FT-IR), adsorption/desorption N2 isotherms, textural analysis, and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analysis were recorded to evaluate the main characteristics of materials. The presence of Lewis and Brønsted acidic sites and catalysts surface area were observed as important key points to functionalize acetylation reaction. Thus, time reaction, temperature, and glycerol / propionic acid ratio varied to improve the most suitable reaction conditions and behaviors. As a result, glycerol conversion was above 96%, followed by 68% of selectivity to glyceryl monopropionate as well as the formation of glyceryl di- and tri- propionate and a small amount of ethylene glycol dipropionate as an undesired product. Copyright © 2021 by Authors, Published by BCREC Group. This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).