Optimization via response surface method for (salen)Co(III)(OAc) catalyzed preparation of chiral epichlorohydrin

The preparation of chiral epichlorohydrin was studied by using asymmetric hydrolysis with (salen)Co(III)(OAc) catalyst. The influences of temperature,catalyst and water amount and reaction time on the optical purity of the produced epichlorohydrin were optimized with Box-Behnken mode of response surface method. A mathematical regression model for the optical purity of chiral epichlorohydrin was established,and the significance test and variance analysis for the regression equation were also analyzed. Results showed that the optimum conditions for the optical purity of chiral epichlorohydrin are:the temperature is 46.02 ℃,the molar ratio of water to epichlorohydrin is 61.10, the molar ratio of catalyst to epichlorohydrin is 0.003937 and the reaction time is 18 h. The predicted optimum optical purity of chiral epichlorohydrin is 102.18%,which is in consistent with the average measured value of 99.61%. Therefore,the regression equation is valid and reliable.