Capturing ethylene glycol with dimethyl carbonate towards depolymerisation of polyethylene terephthalate at ambient temperature

Depolymerisation of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) via alkali metal alkoxide catalysed methanolysis efficiently proceeded at ambient temperature by capturing ethylene glycol (EG) with dimethyl carbonate (DMC), which biased the equilibrium toward dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) due to the thermal stability of ethylene carbonate (EC).

Automated summary

The depolymerisation of PET via alkali metal alkoxide catalysed methanolysis efficiently proceeds at ambient temperature by capturing ethylene glycol with dimethyl carbonate, which biases the equilibrium towards dimethyl terephthalate due to the thermal stability of ethylene carbonate.