A Strategy for the Simultaneous Synthesis of Methallyl Alcohol and Diethyl Acetal with Sn-β

A new strategy was developed to simultaneously produce two important chemicals, namely, methallyl alcohol (Mol) and diethyl acetal (Dal) from methacrolein in ethanol solvent at low temperature with the use of Beta zeolites modified by tin (Sn-β catalysts). All the Sn-β catalysts were prepared by the solid-state ion-exchange method, wherein the calcination step was conducted under different gas atmospheres. The catalyst precalcined in Ar (Sn-β-Ar) had a reduced number of extra-framework Sn species and enabled more Sn species to be exchanged into the framework as isolated tetrahedral Sn^IV , enhancing the catalytic activity of the Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley (MPV) reaction. The sodium-exchanged Sn-β-Ar, with a reduced number of weak Brønsted acid sites, led to an even better selectivity for Mol, owing to the restriction of the side reactions such as acetalization, addition, and etherification. Under optimized catalyst and reaction conditions, the yield of Mol and Dal reached approximately 90 % and 96 %, respectively. The possible reaction pathways, along with a complex network of side products, was proposed after a detailed investigation through the use of different substrates as reactants. The fine-tuning of Sn-β catalysts through different treatments discussed in this work is of great significance toward the understanding and manipulation of complex reactions between α,β-unsaturated aldehydes and primary alcohols.