Glycerol etherification with benzyl alcohol over sulfated zirconia catalysts

MARÍA A. JAWORSKI; SERGIO RODRIGUEZ; GUILLERMO J. SIRI; MONICA L. CASELLA; ARTURO ROMERO SALVADOR; AURORA SANTOS LOPEZ

APPLIED CATALYSIS A-GENERAL

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2015 vol. 505 p. 36 - 43

0926-860X

Glycerol (GLY) etherification with benzyl alcohol (BA) was conducted with different zirconia-basedheterogeneous acid catalysts, aiming to produce mono- (ME) and dibenzyl glycerol ethers (DE). Phys-icochemical properties of the prepared catalysts were obtained through XRD, SEM and adsorption ofammonia. The catalytic tests were performed at different temperatures (120?140◦C) and initial reactantmass ratios (GLY:BA 1:1 and 2:1). The highest BA conversions were obtained with the catalyst having thehighest sulfuric acid content (2S/ZrO2). An increase in the reaction temperature and the GLY:BA initialmass ratio led to an increase in the BA conversion. Two kinetic models (a potential and a hyperbolicapproach) were proposed to describe the process performance, including not only reactants evolutionwith time, but also that of ME, DE and the undesired self-condensation product of BA (benzyl ether, BE).Kinetic parameters for each model were estimated by data fitting and both models were able to accu-rately describe the evolution of the system, in terms of reactants and product distribution as a functionof time under the experimental conditions studied.