Glycerin as a Renewable Feedstock for Epichlorohydrin Production. The GTE Process

Abstract

Abstract A significant improvement in a process to produce epichlorohydrin through the use of glycerin as renewable feedstock is presented. The glycerin to epichlorohydrin (GTE) process proceeds in two chemical steps. In the first step, glycerin is hydrochlorinated with hydrogen chloride gas at elevated temperature and pressure to a mixture of 1,3‐DCH (1,3‐dichlorohydrin, 1,3‐dichloropropan‐2‐ol) and 2,3‐DCH (2,3‐dichlorohydrin, 2,3‐dichloropropan‐1‐ol), using a carboxylic acid catalyst. In the second step, the mixture of dichlorohydrins is converted to epichlorohydrin with a base. This solventless process represents an economically and environmentally advantageous, atom‐efficient process to an existing commodity chemical that can employ a renewable resource for its primary feedstock.