Molybdenum arsenate crystal: A highly efficient and recyclable catalyst for hydrolysis of ethylene carbonate

• The molybdenum arsenate crystal can provide a suitable catalyst for hydrolysis of ester reactions.
• The heterogeneous catalyst displayed high catalytic activity for hydrolysis of ethylene carbonate reactions.
• The catalyst can be simply recovered and reused without significant loss of catalytic activity.
• The catalyst gave 96.5% conversion under optimized conditions.

A simple one-step hydrothermal reaction was employed to synthesize the molybdenum arsenate crystallite catalyst, [{Cu(imi)2}3As3Mo3O15]·H2O (1) (imi = imidazole). The catalyst was characterized using X-ray crystallographic analyses, FT-IR, TGA, XRD, ICP-AES, NH3-TPD and BET techniques. Moreover, we performed evaluation on its catalytic activity towards the hydrolysis of ethylene carbonate to produce ethylene glycol. Interestingly, the conversion of this reaction reaches 96.5% and the selectivity is close to 100% at optimum conditions. No polyoxometalate leaching or framework decomposition was observed and the catalyst can be recovered and reused with slight loss of reactivity under identical reaction conditions.

Figure optionsDownload high-quality image (136 K)Download as PowerPoint slide