Studies in transesterification of ethylene carbonate to dimethyl carbonate over Amberlyst A-21 catalyst

Transesterification of ethylene carbonate (EC) with methanol (MeOH) was studied in a slurry reactor using various homogeneous and heterogeneous, acidic as well as basic, catalysts. Among all catalysts studied, the weakly basic anion-exchange resin Amberlyst A-21 gave more than 95% selectivity towards dimethyl carbonate (based on EC converted). Using this Amberlyst A-21 as a catalyst, the kinetics for the transesterification reaction was studied in the range of temperature from 363 to 393 K, varying catalyst loading from 11.24 to 44.97 kg m(-3) and the molar ratio MeOH:EC being varied between 4:1 and 16:1. The initial rate data were analysed using a power law model to aid process design. (c) 2005 Society of Chemical Industry.