Nano metal oxides as efficient catalysts for selective synthesis of 1-methoxy-2-propanol from methanol and propylene oxide

Abstract

Nano metal oxides such as Fe₂O₃, Fe₃O₄, CuO, NiO, ZnO and SnO₂ were prepared and characterized using XRD, SEM and TEM analysis. These as-prepared metal oxide materials were used as catalysts for the etherification of methanol with propylene oxide (PO). The results showed that α-Fe₂O₃ exhibited outstanding catalytic performance with 97.7% conversion and 83.0% selectivity to MP-2 at 160 °C for 8 h. Furthermore, the relationship between the catalytic activity or selectivity and surface basicity or energy gap was investigated. This catalyst could be easily recovered and reused due to its heterogeneous catalytic nature.