A series of solid acid catalysts such as ZrO2, Mo(VI)/ZrO2 and W(VI)/ZrO2 have been coated on honeycomb monoliths as well as synthesized in the powder forms and used as catalytic materials for synthesis of ethyl levulinate from levulinic acid and ethanol. These solid acids were characterized by BET, NH3-TPD/n-butyl amine back titration, FTIR, PXRD and SEM techniques. Effects of various reaction parameters towards the reaction performance were studied. The performance of the catalyst was tested based on nature of the catalyst (honeycomb coated or powder form), reaction time (1 to 5 h), molar ratio (1:1 to 1:12 levulinic acid to ethanol) and reusability of the catalytic material. An excellent yield (86-88 %) of ethyl levulinate was obtained under optimized conditions. An attempt is made to correlate the activity of the catalysts in this esterification reaction with their surface characteristics. The honeycomb monoliths coated with zirconia and its modified forms were found to be ecofriendly, cost-effective and reusable catalytic materials compared to their powder forms.

In this article the synthesis, characterization and catalytic activity studies of zirconia based base catalysts such as Mg(II)/ZrO and characterized for their physico-chemical properties such as surface basicity, crystallinity and morphology by using relevant techniques. The catalytic activity of these catalytic materials was evaluated in vapor phase synthesis of glycerol carbonate. The reaction conditions were optimized by varying reaction parameters such as nature of catalytic material, molar ratio of the reactants, catalyst bed temperature, feed-rate of the reactants and time-on-stream to obtain highest possible yield of glycerol carbonate with greater selectivity. The catalytic materials were found to be highly efficient in the synthesis of glycerol carbonate with a possible highest yield up to ~98%. These catalytic materials can be easily reactivated and reused in this reaction.

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