Amorphous mesoporous aluminophosphate as highly efficient heterogeneous catalysts for transesterification of diethyl carbonate with dimethyl carbonate

摘要

The catalytic performance of an amorphous mesoporous aluminophosphate (AIPO) was investigated for the transesterification of diethyl carbonate (DEC) with dimethyl carbonate (DMC) to synthesize ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC). Compared with other solid acid and/or base catalysts, the mesoporous AIPO showed remarkably high activity, stability and recoverability for the reaction. We proposed that the presence of suitable weak acid-base pairs on the surface of the mesoporous AIPO material should play a critical role in the activation of reactants to produce EMC.