Esterification of Carboxylic Acids and Diacids by Trialkyl Borate under Solvent- and Catalyst-Free Conditions

Esterification or transesterification reactions are usually carried out in the presence of homogeneous or heterogeneous catalysts. However, recently a new method was reported for the esterification of carboxylic acids by tributyl borate under solvent- and catalyst-free conditions. In order to show the synthetic ability of trialkyl borate esters in the esterification reactions, here, the esterification of other carboxylic acids and diacids by tributyl-, triisoamyl-, and tribenzyl borate under the same conditions were reported. Some of the prepared ester and diester products have found wide applications as plasticizers and synthetic ester base lubricants. The esterification reactions have been cleanly carried out in the absence of any solvent under catalyst-free conditions. The maximum rate belongs to isoamyl trichloroacetate （VIb） which reached about 76% within about 6.5 h. On the basis of obtained findings, it seems that electron withdrawing groups on carboxylic acid facilitate the esterification reaction.     

Fast Biodiesel Production with One-Phase Reaction

The feasibility of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) as a co-solvent used to increase the mass transfer between oil and methanol was investigated. FAME, as the co-solvent, does not require additional separation after the reaction because it is the end product of the reaction. To examine intermediate phenomena during the transesterification of soybean oil, the agitation speed was controlled at a slow rate. When the molar ratio of oil to methanol was 1:6 at 0.8wt.% of KOH to oil, oil was at the bottom layer, and methanol and the catalyst were at the top layer. Under the slow agitation process, the contact surface became initially darkened with the production of FAME and glycerol. After a few minutes, the entire top layer became dark. The top layer, containing methanol, KOH, FAME, and glycerol, fell to the bottom layer and then formed the one-phase system. When 0, 5, and 10 wt.% of FAME to oil was initially introduced to the reaction mixture, the FAME content rapidly increased with the FAME concentration level. After forming the one-phase system, the rate of increase of the FAME content was very slow. The time required for the formation of the one-phase system decreased with the amount of FAME and KOH and with temperature.     

Metal- and Solvent-Free Transesterification and Aldol Condensation Reactions by a Homogenous Recyclable Basic Ionic Liquid Based on the 1,3,5-Triazine Framework

A new recyclable basic ionic liquid was introduced as an efficient catalyst for aldol condensation and transesterification reactions under environmentally friendly conditions. The catalyst was prepared based on methyl imidazolium moieties bearing hydroxide counter anions via the Hofmann elimination on a 1,3,5-triazine framework. The ionic liquid with two functionalities including anion stabilizer and high basicity, was used as an efficient catalyst for aldol condensation as well as transesterification reaction of a variety of alkyl benzoates. All reactions were performed in the absence of any external reagent, co-catalyst, or solvent, in line with environmental protection. The kinetics isotope effect (KIE) was conducted for the transesterification reaction to elucidate the mechanism and rate determining step (RDS). It worth noted that, the homogeneous catalyst could be recycled from the reaction mixture and reused for several consecutive runs with insignificant drop of basicity and conversion.     

Montmorillonite-supported KF/CaO: a new solid base catalyst for biodiesel production

Biodiesel is an alternative to petroleum-derived diesel fuel; development of a high-efficiency base catalyst to be used in heterogeneous biodiesel production is still a challenge. In this paper, a novel solid base catalyst, KF- and CaO-supported montmorillonite (KCa/MMT) was successfully synthesized by a facile impregnation method, and used for producing biodiesel in transesterification of commercial soybean oil with methanol. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, carbon dioxide temperature-programmed desorption and scanning electron microscopy. Effects of the parameters, such as the loading amount of KF, the amount of KCa/MMT, and the methanol to oil molar ratios, on the yield of biodiesel were investigated. A maximum biodiesel yield of 98 % was obtained under the optimal reaction conditions. The separated catalyst can be directly used in the next round of reactions and gave a satisfactory yield. Furthermore, analysis of the catalyst's tolerance to oil-containing water or free fatty acids, and a kinetic study were also carried out. Koros–Nowak tests were designed and conducted, and it was proven that the heat and mass transfer were not limited by the reaction rate.     

High-pressure phase equilibria of some carbon dioxide–organic–water systems

Homogeneous catalysts offer better activity and selectivity than heterogeneous catalysts, but their use is limited by the need to separate them from product and reuse them. Preferential dissolution of gaseous carbon dioxide has been shown to alter phase boundaries and facilitate recovery of such homogenous catalysts. The addition of a polar organic co-solvent to a water/organic biphasic system, coupled with subsequent phase splitting induced by the dissolution of gaseous carbon dioxide creates the opportunity to run homogeneous reactions in an organic/aqueous mixture with a water-soluble catalyst. In homogeneous catalyzed reactions, the catalyst can be tuned to be soluble or insoluble with carbon dioxide present, thus allowing for high catalyst recovery.High-pressure phase equilibria for the systems containing carbon dioxide, an organic (tetrahydrofuran, acetonitrile, or 1,4-dioxane), and water were measured using a variable-volume view cell, by a method capable of rapid and facile measurement of compositions and density in both phases with no sampling or calibration. These systems are well predicted with the Peng–Robinson Equation of State with Huron–Vidal type mixing rules from correlations of the binary systems, with the modified Huron–Vidal 1 (MHV1) and Huron–Vidal–Orbey–Sandler (HVOS) model with UNIQUAC excess energy model performing the best. Applications of the phase behavior on reaction conditions and separations are addressed.     

A Kinetic Study for the Noncatalytic Esterification of Palm Fatty Acid Distillate

In this work, the reaction scheme for the esterification of palm fatty acid distillate performed under the noncatalytic and high‐temperature condition (230–290°C) was investigated with a rigorous mathematical modeling. The esterification reaction was assumed to be the pseudo–homogeneous second‐order reversible reaction, and the mass transfer effectiveness factor (η) was introduced in the modeling framework to systematically and collectively consider both evaporation and reaction, which are simultaneously and competitively occurred in the liquid phase. The nonlinear programming problem was constructed with the objective function consisting of the errors between experimental data and the estimated values from the reaction model. The problem was solved by using the Nelder–Mead simplex algorithm to identify kinetic parameters, reaction rate constants, and mass transfer coefficients. The values of mass transfer coefficients were found to follow the Hertz–Knudsen relation and expressed as a function of reaction temperature. From the reaction rate constants obtained from the proposed kinetic models, the apparent activation energy was estimated to be 43.98 kJ/mol, which is lower than the value obtained from the reaction using heterogeneous catalysts. This low value indicates that reactants and products behave as an acid catalyst at relatively high operating temperature and constant pressure.     

Clean synthesis of biodiesel over solid acid catalysts of sulfonated mesopolymers

FDU-15-SO₃H, a solid acid material prepared from the sulfonation of FDU-15 mesoporous polymer, has been demonstrated to serve as an efficient catalyst in the esterification of palmitic acid with methanol as well as in the transesterification of fatty acid-edible oil mixture. FDU-15-SO₃H achieved an acid conversion of 99.0% when the esterification was carried out at 343 K with a methanol/palmitic acid molar ratio of 6:1 and 5 wt% catalyst loading. It was capable of giving 99.0% yield of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) when the transesterification of soybean oil was performed at 413 K and the methanol/oil weight ratio of 1:1. FDU-15-SO₃H was further applied to the transesterification/esterification of the oil mixtures with a varying ratio of soybean oil to palmitic acid, which simulated the feedstock with a high content of free fatty acids. The yield of FAME reached 95% for the oil mixtures containing 30 wt% palmitic acid. This indicated the sulfonated mesopolymer was a potential catalyst for clean synthesis of fuel alternative of biodiesel from the waste oil without further purification.     

Transesterification of palm oil using supercritical methanol with co-solvent HCFC-141b

The transesterification of palm oil in supercritical methanol has been investigated without using any catalyst. HCFC-141b was used as co-solvent to reduce the molar ratio of methanol to palm oil under the milder conditions. The reaction was carried out in a flow-type tubular reactor. The residence time was fixed at 40 min. When the molar ratio of methanol to palm oil was set to 20:1 at 325 °C and 35 MPa, the optimum molar ratio of methanol to co-solvent was found to be 20:1. Addition of HCFC-141b increased FAME production even at the lower molar ratio of methanol to palm oil. In addition, a similar FAME content was obtained under the milder conditions (5 MPa lower pressure) compared with conditions without co-solvent at higher pressure. The role of HCFC-141b in the transesterification reaction under supercritical conditions was investigated.     

亚铁锌双金属氰化络合物固体催化剂催化合成生物柴油

Fe(Ⅱ)-Zn双金属氰化络合物固体催化剂用于一步催化酯交换和酯化反应制备生物柴油,具有易分离、流程简单,不受水毒性影响的优点。将水溶性金属氰化络合物亚铁氰化钾和金属化合物氯化锌反应,并结合有机配体叔丁醇制备了基于亚铁氰化锌的双金属氰化物络合物(DMC)。并研究了DMC固体催化剂催化菜籽油合成生物柴油过程中,助络合剂种类、催化剂用量、反应温度、醇油摩尔比、反应时间、体系中水和脂肪酸含量等因素对反应过程的影响。研究结果表明,在最佳实验条件下,甲酯产率最高可达98%。催化剂可循环使用,6次循环使用后回收率仍达93.45%,适宜工业化生产。     

磷酸钛固载磷钨酸非均相催化合成异戊酸己酯

通过在300℃下焙烧2h制备了磷酸钛固载15%磷钨酸H3PW12O40(简记为HPW)非均相酯化催化剂HPW/Ti3(PO4)4;采用红外光谱仪分析了催化剂的结构;基于异戊酸与正己醇的酯化反应考察了催化剂用量、n(正己醇)∶n(异戊酸)、反应时间、带水剂种类和催化剂重复使用性能等因素对酯化率的影响.结果表明,该催化剂催化合成异戊酸己酯的适宜反应条件为:0.2mol异戊酸,催化剂用量0.6g,n(正己醇)∶n(异戊酸)=1.6∶1,反应时间4.5h,环己烷10mL;相应的酯化率达95.1%.与此同时,该催化剂循环利用6次后酯化率不低于84%.     

Nano tetraimine Pd(0) complex as an efficient catalyst for phosphine‐free Suzuki reaction in water and copper‐free Sonogashira reaction under aerobic conditions

A nano tetraimine Pd(0) complex catalyst was successfully used as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for the phosphine‐free palladium‐catalysed Suzuki coupling reaction in water at 80 °C. This nano tetraimine Pd(0) complex was also used for copper‐free Sonogashira reaction in dimethylformamide at 100 °C. The catalyst was easily recovered from the reaction mixture by centrifugation and reused for at least six cycles without any significant loss in its catalytic activity. Analysis of the reaction mixture using inductively coupled plasma analysis showed that leaching of palladium from the catalyst was negligible. The reactions can be performed efficiently for aryl iodides, bromides and also chlorides. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nanocatalysts for biodiesel production

Biofuels are a class of clean fuels and promising for energy demand. Biodiesel is relatively costly, which limits the commercialization of the product. The waste edible oil and animal fats are raw materials for biodiesel production. This paper focuses on the catalytic production of biofuels and reviews the application of different catalysts to produce biodiesel from waste oils by using esterification and transesterification reactions. The reaction in the presence of nanocatalysts is carried out under mild operating conditions. Nowadays, magnetic nanocatalysts are preferred to bulk catalysts due to the absence of mass transfer resistance and fast deactivation as well as high recovery rate during the separation. Functionalized magnetic nanocatalysts are more attractive for biodiesel production. Further studies should do to develop highly active and selective nanocatalysts for industrial scale.     

反应控制相转移催化研究的进展

反应控制相转移催化是近年来发展起来的一类新的催化体系.该催化体系在反应过程中具有均相催化的本征,当反应结束后,催化剂发生相的变化而从反应介质中析出,从而可实现催化剂的分离和循环使用.本文就反应控制相转移催化原理及其在烯烃环氧化、醇氧化、烯烃断键氧化、苯羟基化、硒催化羰基化和酯化反应等方面应用的最新进展进行了综述.     

A new advanced method for heterogeneous catalysed dechlorination of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in hydrocarbon solvent

The dechlorination of PCBs with solid hydrazine hydrochloride catalysed by palladium, in an organic solvent, yields biphenyl in short reaction times. The catalyst system can be efficiently reused for several cycles. Ultrasonication of the heterogeneous catalysed reaction increases the dechlorination rate remarkably. The reactivity of the C---Cl bond on the PCB ring are in the order meta>paraortho.     

Kinetics,mass transfer,and thermodynamic and statistical modeling study for esterification of valeric acid with n‐butanol: Homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis

The esterification of valeric acid with n‐butanol was studied with homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts. The activity and performance of homogeneous p‐toluenesulfonic acid and heterogeneous cation exchange resin catalysts Amberlyst 36, Indion 190, and Amberlite IRC‐50 were evaluated. The pseudo‐homogeneous kinetic model was used to investigate the kinetic parameters of homogeneous‐ and heterogeneous‐catalyzed esterification. The UNIFAC (universal functional activity coefficient) approach was used to study the nonideality of the esterification reaction. The reaction was statistically modeled and optimized by the application of response surface methodology. The effects of independent variables such as reaction temperature, initial molar ratio, and catalyst loading on the conversion of valeric acid were investigated. The optimized conditions for the esterification reaction catalyzed by Amberlyst‐36 were found as temperature 360.4 K, initial molar ratio 3.8, and catalyst loading 6.7 wt%. The predicted conversion (89%) at these optimized conditions is in good agreement with the experimental conversion (87.3 ± 1.6%).     

Zr-MOF-808 as Catalyst for Amide Esterification

In this work, zirconium-based metal–organic framework Zr-MOF-808-P has been found to be an efficient and versatile catalyst for amide esterification. Comparing with previously reported homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts, Zr-MOF-808-P can promote the reaction for a wide range of primary, secondary and tertiary amides with n-butanol as nucleophilic agent. Different alcohols have been employed in amide esterification with quantitative yields. Moreover, the catalyst acts as a heterogeneous catalyst and could be reused for at least five consecutive cycles. The amide esterification mechanism has been studied on the Zr-MOF-808 at molecular level by in situ FTIR spectroscopic technique and kinetic study.     

Characterization of Catalysts for Glycerol Ester Production with Various Acetylating Agents

The use of raw materials from renewable sources by industries is essential to the sustainable development of modern society. The biodiesel produced by the transesterification of vegetable oils is a less polluting diesel fuel, but large amounts of glycerol (10% of total weight of product) are generated during the production process. The scientific community and industries of the sector know that, in the future, the amount of glycerol generated can cause a serious ecologic problem. Thus, it is essential to find alternatives for the consumption of this co-product, in its crude form and/or as high value-added derivatives. This work studied obtaining triacetate from the glycerol esterification reaction that was determined by electrospray ionization–mass spectrometry and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The reactions were carried out with sulfuric acid, phosphotungstic acid and in the absence of catalyst, using different acetylating agents (acetic acid and acetic anhydride). The phosphotungstic acid showed satisfactory performance in the catalytic esterification of glycerol when acetic acid and acid anhydride were used. The use of acetic anhydride as the acetylating agent favors the esterification reaction, decreasing the reaction time required for obtaining glycerol triacetate.     

Metal-catalyzed transesterification for healing and assembling of thermosets

Catalytic control of bond exchange reactions enables healing of cross-linked polymer materials under a wide range of conditions. The healing capability at high temperatures is demonstrated for epoxy-acid and epoxy-anhydride thermoset networks in the presence of transesterification catalysts. At lower temperatures, the exchange reactions are very sluggish, and the materials have properties of classical epoxy thermosets. Studies of model molecules confirmed that the healing kinetics is controlled by the transesterification reaction rate. The possibility of varying the catalyst concentration brings control and flexibility of welding and assembling of epoxy thermosets that do not exist for thermoplastics.     

The Obtaining Biodiesel from Used Vegetable Oil and Animal Waste Oil by Two Stages Transesterification Reaction

The biodiesel was obtained from used vegetable oil (UVO) and animal waste oil (AWO) by the two stages transesterification reaction. Also chemical and technical properties of feed and products were determined. Conditions of transesterification reaction for each of the oil samples were determined as a result of several sets of experiments. The suitable conditions of transesterification reaction were the following. Hereto a molar ratio of oil: methanol: catalyst was 1: 6: 1/40, for 30 min, at temperature of 600°C. To obtain biodiesel directly by the one stage transesterification, in case of using UVO sample, when the acidity number of feed oil had to less than 3 mg KOH/g. The biodiesel from UVO and AWO was prepared by mixing 5, 10, 20% of volume in the summer and winter diesel fuel. However, the product from mixture of UVO and winter diesel fuel met the technique requirements both of winter and summer diesel fuel, but the product from mixture of AWO and summer diesel fuel did not satisfy technical requirements of diesel fuel.     

CaO-MgO@CoFe_2O_4磁性固体碱的制备及其大豆油酯交换反应催化性能

以草酸盐为前驱体采用两步法制备了一种以CaO-MgO作为活性组分,以CoFe_2O_4作为磁核的磁性固体碱催化剂,并用于大豆油与甲醇的酯交换反应合成生物柴油。对制备的磁性固体碱催化剂进行了磁滞回线、X-射线衍射(XRD)、CO_2-TPD及透射电镜(TEM)表征。考察了不同核壳物质的量比、焙烧温度、反应温度、反应时间、醇油物质的量比以及催化剂用量等因素对大豆油转化为生物柴油产率的影响。结果表明,采用核壳物质的量比为1∶6、焙烧温度为700℃所制备的CaO-MgO@CoFe_2O_4催化剂,当醇油物质的量比为12、催化剂用量为大豆油质量的1.0%时,在65℃下反应时间3 h,生物柴油收率高达97.1%。该催化剂具有较好的重复利用性能,重复利用四次后生物柴油的收率仍可达90%。