Selective Oxidation of Allyl Alcohol to Acrylic Acid in Base-Free Aqueous Solution

Abstract

Acrylic acid, which is an important chemical with various downstream applications, is currently produced from petroleum. A new pathway for producing acrylic acid using a more sustainable and environmentally friendly method has been actively pursued, especially starting from biomass-derived glycerol. In this work, selective oxidation of allyl alcohol, which can be produced from glycerol with >99% yield without catalyst, into acrylic acid was investigated using only water, allyl alcohol, and catalyst under a pressurized oxygen condition. Among various metal catalysts, Pd showed the highest activity for acrylic acid production. Oxidation, hydration, and hydrogenation pathways were observed at the same time. When Pd nanoparticle catalysts were used, the catalyst capped with starch produced hydrogenated species of propanal and propionic acid less with a high yield for acrylic acid. The effects of reaction temperature, oxygen pressure, and the amount of reactant and catalyst were evaluated.