Acetalization of glycerol with acetone over appropriately-hydrophobic zirconium organophosphonates

The acetalization of glycerol with acetone is an effective way to obtain high value-added solketal. In this work, a series of zirconium organophosphonate with special flower-like outline were prepared via a facile hydrothermal method and used in the acetalization of glycerol with acetone. The structure and the property of the synthesized catalysts were characterized. It was found that these appropriately-hydrophobic zirconium organophosphonates were highly active and selective in the acetalization of glycerol with acetone under mild conditions. The characterization results indicated that an appropriate hydrophobic surface might retard the deactivation from adsorbed condensation water, which ensured an inconspicuous decrease of adsorption of the substrate. The prominent performance of ZrPP-20 mainly depended on the synergistic effect of acidity and hydrophilia/hydrophobicity balance of the framework.