Chemicals Production from Glycerol through Heterogeneous Catalysis: A Review

Abstract

Utilization of biofuels generated from renewable sources has attracted broad attention due to their benefits such as reducing consumption of fossil fuels, sustainability, and consequently prevention of global warming. The production of biodiesel causes a huge amount of by-product, crude glycerol, to accumulate. Glycerol, because of its unique structure having three hydroxyl groups, can be converted to a variety of industrially valuable products. In recent decades, increasing studies have been carried out on different catalytic pathways to selectively produce a wide range of glycerol derivatives. In the current review, the main routes including carboxylation, oxidation, etherification, hydrogenolysis, esterification, and dehydration to convert glycerol to value-added products are investigated. In order to achieve more glycerol conversion and higher desired product selectivity, acquisition of knowledge on the catalysts, the type of acidic or basic, the supports, and studying various reaction pathways and operating parameters are necessary. This review attempts to summarize the knowledge of catalytic reactions and mechanisms leading to value-added derivatives of glycerol. Additionally, the application of main products from glycerol are discussed. In addition, an overview on the market of glycerol, its properties, applications, and prospects is presented.

Iridium-, Ruthenium-, and Nickel-Catalyzed C–C Couplings of Methanol, Formaldehyde, and Ethanol with π-Unsaturated Pronucleophiles via Hydrogen Transfer

“…It is the authors’ hope that the catalytic processes described in the present monograph inform further advances in the use of abundant and renewably sourced alcohol building blocks in fine and commodity chemical synthesis. Numerous unmet challenges exist, including the development of hydrogen auto-transfer protocols for the valorization of glycerol, a byproduct of biofuel production, the development of analogous methods for the conversion of lower amines to higher amines (hydroaminoalkylation), and the development of processes that enable ethylene and β-olefins to serve as partners for alcohol alkylation…”

Valorization of bio-renewable glycerol by catalytic amination reactions

“…oxides. 28 The hydrogenolysis of glycerol happens when any hydrogen source reacts with glycerol and typically produces a variety of products. Two of the most important ones are 1,3propylene glycol and 1,4-propylene glycol.…”

“…This transformation represents many pathways and therefore makes this conversion more difficult. 28 Next, the oxidation of glycerol can be conducted with any of the three hydroxyl units of the component. Many products ( e.g.…”

New Trends in Catalytic Conversion of Glycerol

“…In the review by Dalai et al, various utilization strategies for glycerol including carboxylation, oxidation, etherification, hydrogenolysis, esterification, and dehydration were introduced [11]. To provide more guidance information for the efficient production of valuable chemicals from glycerol, the effects of many factors including the type of acidic or basic sites and the supports related to catalysts, reaction pathways, and operating parameters were summarized and discussed.…”

“…To provide more guidance information for the efficient production of valuable chemicals from glycerol, the effects of many factors including the type of acidic or basic sites and the supports related to catalysts, reaction pathways, and operating parameters were summarized and discussed. Furthermore, the market and applications of glycerol, its derivative products, and related prospects were discussed in this review [11]. Palanychamy and co-workers summarized the research progress in glycerol etherification [12].…”