Using gold catalysts for upgrading glycerol from biodiesel production: Selective oxidation and synthesis of glycerol carbonate [Abstract]

The generation of large quantities of glycerol as by-product in the production of biodiesel is one major draw-back in the biodiesel industry. Consequently, there is great interest in finding chemical transformations for glycerol to more valuable chemicals. In this paper we present catalytic routes to upgrade waste glycerol to higher value products via selective oxidation and carbonylation routes. In addition to the current applications of organic carbonates as solvents and in the synthesis of polymers, their potential application as fuel additives has a very large market. With this in mind, we have discovered that glycerol carbonate can successfully be synthesised in high yields via the alcoholisis of urea through the use of gold-based heterogeneous catalysts. The process utilises two cheap and readily available materials in a chemical cycle that overall results in the chemical fixation of CO and a valorisation route for waste glycerine from biodiesel production