Catalytic performance of carbonaceous materials in the esterification of succinic acid

• Published in: Catalysis communications Vol. 9; no. 8; pp. 1709 - 1714
• Main Authors: Clark, James H., Budarin, Vitaly, Dugmore, Thomas, Luque, Rafael, Macquarrie, Duncan J., Strelko, Volodimir
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 20.04.2008
• Subjects: Carbonaceous materials; Heterogeneous catalysis; Succinic acid esterification; Heterogeneous catalysis; Succinic acid esterification; Carbonaceous materials
• ISSN: 1566-7367; 1873-3905
• DOI: 10.1016/j.catcom.2008.01.037

Mesoporous carbonaceous materials have outstanding potential in many different applications such as adsorption, medicine and catalysis. We have recently reported the synthesis of a new form of mesoporous carbon, named Starbon ® , obtained after low temperature carbonization of expanded starch. Such starch-derived mesoporous materials have several tunable properties including surface energies (ranging from hydrophilic to hydrophobic surfaces), which can be easily controlled by the degree of carbonization (from 200 to 700 °C). Due to the diversity of surface functional groups, Starbons ® can be easily chemically modified. Treatment of Starbon ® materials with sulfuric acid gave a solid acid that has promising properties as heterogeneous catalyst. Comparative catalytic studies with some other similar commercial carbonaceous materials such as DARCO ® and NORIT ® , as well as phosphorous-containing microporous carbons, are reported.