A novel synthetic approach for preparing dimethyl carbonate from dimethoxymethane and O2 over Cu-MCM-48 Original Research Article

A new convenient method for the synthesis of dimethyl carbonate from dimethoxymethane and O2 in the presence of catalytic amounts of Cu-MCM-48 was described. The XRD results indicate that the structure of Cu-MCM-48 is gradually distorted with the increase in the copper content, whereas the framework structure of Cu-MCM-48 is basically retained until the incorporated copper content reaches to 0.62 wt%. The SEM, TEM and N2 adsorption studies show that copper content of 9.51 wt% completely changes the morphology and structure of Cu-MCM-48. Effects of the amount of the incorporated copper in catalyst, catalyst amount used and other reaction conditions on the catalytic activity are investigated in details to obtain the optimized reaction conditions. Short reaction time, easy recycling of the catalyst and excellent yields are the main advantages of this process.