Synthesis of Monoalkyl Glyceryl Ethers by Ring Opening of Glycidol with Alcohols in the Presence of Lewis Acids

ChemSusChem. 2016 Dec 8;9(23):3272-3275. doi: 10.1002/cssc.201600989. Epub 2016 Nov 23.

Abstract

The present work deals with the production of monoalkyl glyceryl ethers (MAGEs) through a new reaction pathway based on the reaction of glycidol and alcohols catalyzed by Lewis acid-based catalysts. Glycidol is quantitatively converted with high selectivity (99 %) into MAGEs under very mild reaction conditions (80 °C and 0.01 mol % catalyst loading) in only 1 h using Al(OTf)3 or Bi(OTf)3 as catalyst. The proposed method enhances the choice of possible green synthetic approaches for the production of value-added products such as MAGEs.

Keywords: Lewis acids; ethers; glycerol; green chemistry; waste valorization.

MeSH terms

  • Alcohols / chemistry*
  • Catalysis
  • Epoxy Compounds / chemistry*
  • Glyceryl Ethers / chemical synthesis*
  • Green Chemistry Technology
  • Lewis Acids / chemistry
  • Propanols / chemistry*

Substances

  • Alcohols
  • Epoxy Compounds
  • Glyceryl Ethers
  • Lewis Acids
  • Propanols
  • glycidol