MnCO3-Catalyzed Transesterification of Alcohols with Dimethyl Carbonate Under Mild Conditions

Dimethyl carbonate (DMC) is a valuable green reagent with versatile and tunable chemical reactivity and can be used as a raw material for transesterification of alcohols. Herein, MnCO3 was found to be an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for transesterification of various alcohols with DMC and gave desired products under mild conditions. The MnCO3 catalysts were fully characterized by XRD, BET, SEM, TEM, FT-IR and NH3-TPD. The analysis results indicated that MnCO3 calcined at 300 degrees C has significantly enhanced surface area and abundant weak acid sites, which contributed to the superior catalytic performance in the transesterification. Furthermore, deactivation of catalyst resulted from the change of crystal structure and the decrease of weak acid sites. This research expands the potential application for DMC in green chemistry. [GRAPHICS] .

Automated summary

MnCO3 was found to be an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for transesterification of alcohols with DMC, giving desired products under mild conditions. MnCO3 calcined at 300 degrees C showed significantly enhanced surface area and abundant weak acid sites, contributing to its superior catalytic performance in the transesterification process.