Efficient and selective conversion of glycidol to 1,2-propanediol over Pd/C catalyst

• A promising catalytic route for 1,2-propanediol preparation from glycidol is reported.
• Pd/C converts quantitatively glycidol to 1,2-PD with high selectivity.
• The use of solvent reduces drastically oligomer production.

The present work deals with the catalytic hydrogenolysis of glycidol to 1,2-propanediol. Reactions were carried out in a closed steel reactor using noble metal based heterogeneous catalysts (Pd, Rh, Pt) under hydrogen pressure (1–8 bars) in the temperature range of 25–140 °C. Pd/C shows the highest glycidol conversion (96%) under solvent free conditions after 24 h with high selectivity to 1,2-propanediol (93%). The effect of the solvent was also investigated and it was demonstrated that ethanol reduces drastically oligomer production enhancing selectivity up to 99% with a significant reaction time reduction (6 h). The Pd/C catalyst shows high recyclability and could be reused several times (9 cycles) without losses in activity and selectivity.

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