An Overview of the Latest Advances in the Catalytic Synthesis of Glycerol Carbonate

Abstract

In recent years, the development of renewable energy alternatives to traditional fossil fuels has become one of the major challenges all over the world, due to the decline of fossil fuel reserves and their effect on global warming. Biodiesel has become a popular alternative energy source to reduce gas emissions compared to traditional fossil fuels. According to statistics, a nine-fold increase in global biofuel production between 2000 and 2020 was observed. However, its production generates a large amount of glycerol as a by-product, posing an environmental problem when disposed directly in landfills or by incineration. Therefore, low-value glycerol should be converted into high value-added derivatives. As glycerol carbonate is one of the most important derivatives of glycerol, this review aims to discuss the studies over the last ten years about glycerol carbonate synthetic methods, including the typical routes such as phosgene, esterification reaction, urea, oxidative and direct carbonylation as well as several rare synthetic procedures. At the same time, it summarizes the different catalytic reaction systems of each route comparing the advantages and disadvantages of various catalysts and evaluating their catalytic activity. Finally, the future development of glycerol carbonate synthesis is prospected from the point of view of development, technology research and industrialization.

Synthesis of Glycerol Carbonate via Alcoholysis of Urea with Glycerol: Current Status and Future Prospects

“…Urea is simple to prepare and economical and widely used in industry, significantly reducing the reaction cost. 10,11 Urea can be further synthesized from ammonia gas generated by the reaction of glycerol and urea after collection, which meets the requirements of sustainable development (Scheme 2).…”

“…In addition, the urea alcoholysis method uses two inexpensive and readily available raw materials glycerol and urea to synthesize glycerol carbonate. Urea is simple to prepare and economical and widely used in industry, significantly reducing the reaction cost. , Urea can be further synthesized from ammonia gas generated by the reaction of glycerol and urea after collection, which meets the requirements of sustainable development (Scheme ).…”

Transesterification of Glycerol to Glycerol Carbonate over Mg-Zr Composite Oxide Prepared by Hydrothermal Process

“…Biodiesel is obtained by transesterification of vegetable oil and waste oil with methanol or ethanol and will produce by-product glycerol (GL). By 2024, the global biofuel market is expected to reach US $153.8 billion, but for every 1000 kg biodiesel produced, there will be 100 kg GL [2].…”

Mixed oxides from calcined layered double hydroxides for glycerol carbonate production to contribute to the biodiesel economy

“…The GC is a building block for polycarbonates, a green solvent, and an additive in the electrolytic solutions used in lithium batteries, cosmetics, food, and the medical industry (Sonnati et al, 2013;Christy et al, 2018). For the synthesis of glycerol carbonate, many catalysts, such as zeolites (Singh et al, 2014), metal salts (Procopio and Di Gioia, 2022), zinc catalysts (Fujita et al, 2013), ionic liquids immobilized on resins (Cho et al, 2010;Kim et al, 2011), metal oxides (Deshmukh and Yadav, 2021), and hydrotalcites (Climent et al, 2010;Galadima and Muraza, 2017) have been studied. In all such studies, a strong relationship is evidenced between the catalytic activity and the balance of basic sites, which show a higher yield of glycerol carbonate.…”