Methanesulfonic Acid as a More Efficient Catalyst for the Synthesis of Lauraldehyde Glycerol Acetal

Abstract

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to describe a more efficient catalyst for the synthesis of lauraldehyde glycerol acetal. Catalytic effect of methane sulfonic acid and p-toluenesulfonic acid were compared. With a mixture of 0.67 wt.% methanesulfonic acid in relation to lauraldehyde, equimolar amounts of glycerol and lauraldehyde being stirred at 110 °C for 2.5 h, the yield of the product was 76.32 %. When p-toluenesulfonic acid was used, the amount of the catalyst was 0.91 wt.% and the yield of the product was 62.91 % after reacting for 2.5 h at 120 °C. The result reveals that methane sulfonic acid is more efficient. Surface tension measurements showed that critical micelle concentration of the product catalyzed by methanesulfonic acid was 5.33 × 10−5 mol · L−1, and at this point the surface tension could achieve about 24 mN m−1.