Studies on synthesis of dimethyl carbonate from methanol and carbon dioxide

The reaction thermodynamics of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) synthesis from CH3OH and CO2 was investigated by estimating Delta H-r and Delta(r)G of the reaction at different temperatures and pressure. The result shows that the reaction does not spontaneously occur under finite conditions in view of thermodynamics. Thus, in order to seek a new method or a novel idea for the DMC synthesis, the thermodynamics of DMC synthesis catalyzed by basic catalysts, K2CO3, KOH and CH3OK, was discussed in details. A general conclusion was obtained that the subroutine nesting of a coupling reaction is an effective avenue to increase the yield of DMC synthesis from CO2 and CH3OH. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.