Rongxian Bai

One-pot synthesis of glycidol from glycerol and dimethyl carbonate over a highly efficient and easily available solid catalyst NaAlO2

The one-pot synthesis of glycidol from glycerol and dimethyl carbonate (DMC) was developed by using a solid base catalyst. A series of solid base catalysts have been investigated in this reaction. It was found that NaAlO2, a cheap and easily available raw material, was a highly efficient heterogeneous catalyst for the one-pot synthesis of glycidol, and it can be easily recovered and reused. Under the reaction conditions of a DMC–glycerol molar ratio of 2, catalyst–glycerol weight ratio of 3%, reaction time of 90 min, and temperature of 80–92 °C, the conversion of glycerol and the selectivity to glycidol reached 94.7% and 80.7%, respectively. Activity tests of the catalyst after exposure to the air showed that, to a certain extent, the NaAlO2 catalyst is tolerant to water and carbon dioxide, which makes the present system a practically interesting process for glycidol synthesis.