Synthesis of ethyl methyl carbonate via transesterification over molecular sieves and ZIF-8

Abstract

An efficient catalyst system of molecular sieves and ZIF-8 was developed for preparing ethyl methyl carbonate from dimethyl carbonate and diethyl carbonate under mild conditions. We used a number of tools to characterize ZIF-8, including X-ray diffraction instrument and physical adsorption instrument and thermogravimetric analyzer. Chemisorption instrument was used to characterize its acid-base properties. We studied different factors associated with the yield. The catalyst leaching test showed that the reaction took place heterogeneously.The results indicated that the catalyst system of molecular sieves and ZIF-8 displayed excellent activity, selectivity and reusability. Furthermore, the addition of molecular sieves to ZIF-8 resulted in dramatic increases from 50.3% to 84.7% in the yield.