Premium
Towards a Sustainable Synthesis of Oxymethylene Dimethyl Ether by Homogeneous Catalysis and Uptake of Molecular Formaldehyde
Author(s) -
Peter Andreas,
Fehr Samuel M.,
Dybbert Valentin,
Himmel Daniel,
Lindner Ines,
Jacob Eberhard,
Ouda Mohamed,
Schaadt Achim,
White Robin J.,
Scherer Harald,
Krossing Ingo
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201802247
Subject(s) - dimethoxymethane , formaldehyde , anhydrous , dimethyl ether , chemistry , catalysis , organic chemistry , ether , monomer , homogeneous , polymer , physics , thermodynamics
Oxymethylene dimethyl ethers (OME n ; CH 3 (‐OCH 2 ‐) n O‐CH 3 , n =3–5) are a novel class of sustainable synthetic fuels, which are of increasing interest due to their soot‐free combustion. Herein a novel anhydrous OME n synthesis route is presented. Catalyzed by trimethyloxonium salts, dimethoxymethane takes up monomeric gaseous formaldehyde instantaneously and forms high purity OME n at temperatures of 25–30 °C. This new anhydrous approach using molecular formaldehyde and catalytic amounts of highly active trimethyloxonium salts represents a promising new step towards a sustainable formation of OME n emanating from CO 2 and H 2 .