Mg and Al dual-metal functionalized mesoporous carbon as highly efficient heterogeneous catalysts for the synthesis of ethyl methyl carbonate

Mg and Al dual-metal functionalized nanoscale porous carbon materials (MgAl@NC) with highly ordered mesoporous structures and mixed active sites were successfully prepared using a simple one-pot synthesis method. The catalytic properties of the resultant MgAl@NC catalysts were investigated for the synthesis of ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC) in a fixed bed reactor. The catalysts exhibited remarkably high activity, selectivity and stability for the transesterification of diethyl carbonates (DEC) with dimethyl carbonates (DMC) even under high LHSV conditions. A 50.0% DEC conversion and a 99.2% EMC selectivity could be obtained at 103 °C and an LHSV = 7.8 h−1. The catalyst maintained a high product yield with almost no decrease in catalytic performance after 360 h. The well-dispersed magnesium aluminate spinel and α-cristobalite formed neighboring acid–base sites, while the synergistic catalytic effects of the mixed active sites should be critical for activation of the reactants. It may also be the reason for the efficient production of EMC under very high LHSV conditions.