Upgrading of glycerol towards allyl alcohol under continuous-flow conditions

Our group is active in the valorization of biomass-derived small platform molecules, among which glycerol occupies a special place. Glycerol is increasingly attracting attention for upgrading into high value bio-based chemicals due to its wide availability related to the current growth of the biodiesel industry. Glycerol can be upgraded in a variety of important chemicals such as bio-allyl alcohol through the deoxydehydration (DODH) reaction. The DODH of glycerol can be performed using either metal-catalyzed or formic acid-assisted strategies, but these methods often require prolonged exposure times to high temperatures, thus leading to variable purity profiles.
This work presents the most recent advances from our group for the implementation of a DODH reaction of glycerol towards allyl alcohol under continuous-flow conditions. The combination of a unique reactive dynamic feed solution approach and short exposure (1-6 min) to high temperature (250 °C) through a microfluidic reactor gave high yield (up to 97%) and excellent selectivity in the presence of formic acid, triethyl orthoformate, or a combination of both.