(558n) Intrinsic Reaction Kinetics and Mechanism for the Transesterification Reaction to Diphenyl Carbonate Catalyzed By Dibutyltin Oxide

Diphenyl carbonate (DPC) is one of the important intermediates to synthesize polycarbonate with clean production route. The green synthesis of DPC from dimethyl carbonate (DMC) and phenol is actually a complex reaction network containing reversible, parallel and competitive reactions. The possible underlying reaction pathways were studied through the extensive researches about the thermodynamic and intrinsic kinetic with dibutyltin oxide as a catalyst. An Sn-based active catalyst I was discovered and structurally confirmed, which was further proved to play a real catalytic role in the transesterification reaction system. Moreover, a series of possible reaction pathways were derived for probing an in-depth insight into the understanding of the transesterification process from DMC to DPC and verified by experimental intrinsic kinetic data. Furthermore, the predicted function of the screened mechanism kinetic model were demonstrated by two additional experiments. Besides, the transesterification reaction system were proved to be a severe equilibrium-limit reaction and thus the process intensification seems to be more important for the industrialization of this green route.