Kinetics of bis(2-methyl) butylene carbonate by transesterification of dimethyl carbonate with 1,4-butanediol

The kinetic behavior of bis(2-methyl) butylene carbonate (BMBC) by the transesterification of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) with 1,4-butanediol (BDO) was investigated experimentally and theoretically. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIRs) test confirmed that the BMBC was successfully synthesized. The optimum preparation process of BMBC was investigated at atmospheric pressure, where Zn(Ac)(2)& BULL;2H(2)O was the best catalyst for this transesterification reaction, and the optimal concentration was 0.3 wt%. The conversion was determined by measuring the amount of methanol produced during the reaction by refractometric method. A kinetic model was proposed according to the experimental results. The results showed that the transesterification reaction was a pseudo-first-order reaction. The apparent activation energy (E-a) significantly decreased with the increase of catalyst concentration from 0.1 wt% to 0.5 wt%. The E-a of the reaction was 102.13, 84.36, and 70.18 kJ mol(-1), respectively, when the catalyst concentration was 0.1 wt%, 0.3 wt%, and 0.5 wt%. Furthermore, the parameters of the optimal heating curve in the batch reactor was obtained according to the optimal model.

Automated summary

This study investigated the kinetic behavior of bis(2-methyl)butylene carbonate (BMBC) synthesized via the transesterification of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) with 1,4-butanediol (BDO), both experimentally and theoretically. The FTIR test confirmed the successful synthesis of BMBC. The optimal preparation process involved using Zn(Ac)(2)& BULL;2H(2)O as the catalyst with a concentration of 0.3 wt%. The conversion was determined using the refractometric method by measuring the amount of methanol produced. A kinetic model was proposed based on the experimental results, showing the transesterification reaction to be a pseudo-first-order reaction. The apparent activation energy (E-a) decreased with increasing catalyst concentration.