Nanotitania catalyzes the chemoselective hydration and alkoxylation of epoxides

[EN] Glycols and ethoxy- and propoxy-alcohols are fundamental chemicals in industry, with annual productions of millions of tons, still manufactured in many cases with corrosive and unrecoverable catalysts such as KOH, amines and BF3 center dot OEt2. Here we show that commercially available, inexpen...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Oliver-Meseguer, Judit|||0000-0003-1555-3583, Leyva Perez, Antonio|||0000-0003-1063-5811, Ballesteros-Soberanas, Jordi, Tejeda-Serrano, Maria, Martínez-Castelló, Aarón
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV)
Repositorio:RiuNet. Repositorio Institucional de la Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:riunet.upv.es:10251/188306
Acceso en línea:https://riunet.upv.es/handle/10251/188306
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Nanotitania
Catalysis
Vacancies
Epoxides
Glycols
Ethoxylation
Propoxylation
1,4-dioxanones
Descripción
Sumario:[EN] Glycols and ethoxy- and propoxy-alcohols are fundamental chemicals in industry, with annual productions of millions of tons, still manufactured in many cases with corrosive and unrecoverable catalysts such as KOH, amines and BF3 center dot OEt2. Here we show that commercially available, inexpensive, non-toxic, solid and recyclable nanotitania catalyzes the hydration and alkoxylation of epoxides, with water and primary and secondary alcohols but not with phenols, carboxylic acids and tertiary alcohols. In this way, the chemoselective synthesis of different glycols and 1,4-dioxanones, and the implementation of nanotitania for the production in-flow of glycols and alkoxylated alcohols, has been achieved. Mechanistic studies support the key role of vacancies in the nano-oxide catalyst.