Efficient conversion of glycerol into high value-added chemicals by
partial oxidation
Abstract
Glycerol can be effectively converted to glyceric acid, a high
value-added pharmaceutical raw material, through its partial oxidation
over an Au catalyst under strongly basic conditions. The factors
important for the highly selective production of glyceric acid were
investigated experimentally. It was clarified that NaOH was involved in
the glycerol activation step to a glycerol alkoxide intermediate in the
liquid phase, then glyceric acid was formed by OOH species derived from
O2 on an Au catalyst in the partial oxidation step. We
have newly discovered the concerted effect of NaOH and
O2 in different reaction steps.