Microwave-activated direct synthesis of acrylonitrile from glycerol under mild conditions: Effect of niobium as dopant of the V-Sb oxide catalytic system

Glycerol is a major by-product in biodiesel production, which raises a critical need to develop efficient valorization processes. This study shows how both conventional thermal activation and microwave irradiation are able to selectively transform glycerol into acrylonitrile, this performance is modulated by niobium doping of SbnV/Al2O3 catalysts under mild reaction conditions. To the best of our knowledge, we report the highest selectivity (83.8%) to acrylonitrile from glycerol at good conversion values (46.8%).