Room temperature acetalization of glycerol to cyclic acetals over anchored silicotungstates under solvent free conditions

Abstract

Heterogeneous catalysts comprising of parent Keggin type silicotungstate as well as monolacunary silicotungstate anchored to MCM-41 were synthesized and characterized by several physicochemical methods. A solvent free green route towards valorisation of glycerol via acetalization with benzaldehyde has been proposed. Both the catalysts showed very good activity as well as selectivity towards dioxolane derivatives within a short reaction time and at room temperature. The tuning of the acidity of the parent silicotungstate leads to an increase in the selectivity towards 1,3-dioxolane. The catalysts were also recycled up to four times without any significant loss in the conversion. The excellent performance of these mesoporous catalysts is attributed to their combination of acidity, wide pores and large specific surface area.