Direct synthesis of dimethyl carbonate and propylene glycol using potassium bicarbonate as catalyst in supercritical CO₂

The improved one-pot synthesis of dimethyl carbonate and propylene glycol from propylene oxide, supercritical carbon dioxide, and methanol with potassium bicarbonate as the catalyst has been reported in this paper. As far as we know, it is the first time to use potassium bicarbonate only as the catalyst in the production process which is simple and cheap. Satisfactory conversion rate of propylene oxide and yield of the products could be achieved at the optimized conditions with quite a small amount of by-products. Our new method offers an attractive choice for the production of dimethyl carbonate in large-scale industry efficiently and environmental friendly.