Kinetics of bis(2-methyl) butylene carbonate by transesterification of dimethyl carbonate with 1,4-butanediol

The kinetic behavior of bis(2-methyl) butylene carbonate (BMBC) by the transesterification of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) with 1,4-butanediol (BDO) was investigated experimentally and theoretically. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIRs) test confirmed that the BMBC was successfully synthesized. The optimum preparation process of BMBC was investigated at atmospheric pressure, where Zn(Ac)₂∙2H₂O was the best catalyst for this transesterification reaction, and the optimal concentration was 0.3 wt%. The conversion was determined by measuring the amount of methanol produced during the reaction by refractometric method. A kinetic model was proposed according to the experimental results. The results showed that the transesterification reaction was a pseudo-first-order reaction. The apparent activation energy (E_a) significantly decreased with the increase of catalyst concentration from 0.1 wt% to 0.5 wt%. The E_a of the reaction was 102.13, 84.36, and 70.18 kJ mol⁻¹, respectively, when the catalyst concentration was 0.1 wt%, 0.3 wt%, and 0.5 wt%. Furthermore, the parameters of the optimal heating curve in the batch reactor was obtained according to the optimal model.