The Transesterification of Dimethyl Carbonate with Phenol over Mg−Al-hydrotalcite Catalyst

The production of diphenyl carbonate (DPC) by the transesterification of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) with phenol was performed using a variety of solid catalysts. Mg−Al-hydrotalcite was found to have a high activity for this transesterification. A 14.7% yield of DPC and an 11.6% yield of methylphenyl carbonate (MPC) based on DMC were obtained in the presence of Mg−Al-hydrotalcite catalyst. The optimum experimental temperature for this transesterification reaction was between 160 and 180 °C, which was in agreement with the thermodynamic analysis. When the transesterification of DMC with phenol was performed at the molar ratio of phenol to DMC of 2:1, reaction time 10 h, 1.0% of 2:1 Mg−Al-hydrotalcite based on the total weight of reactants, and 160−180 °C, the total yield and selectivity for DPC and MPC were 26.3 and 82.4%, respectively. The yield of anisole was 5.6%.