Amorphous mesoporous aluminophosphate as highly efficient heterogeneous catalysts for transesterification of diethyl carbonate with dimethyl carbonate

The catalytic performance of an amorphous mesoporous aluminophosphate (AlPO) was investigated for the transesterification of diethyl carbonate (DEC) with dimethyl carbonate (DMC) to synthesize ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC). Compared with other solid acid and/or base catalysts, the mesoporous AlPO showed remarkably high activity, stability and recoverability for the reaction. We proposed that the presence of suitable weak acid–base pairs on the surface of the mesoporous AlPO material should play a critical role in the activation of reactants to produce EMC.

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► Mesoporous AlPO is an active heterogeneous catalyst for EMC production.
► AlPO showed good stability and recoverability for the transesterification reaction.
► Weak acid–base pairs are the main active sites for the reaction.