The Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics’ technology for \"producing methyl methoxyacetate via acetal carbonylation and producing methyl glycolate via hydrolysis\" has passed the evaluation of scientific and technological achievements

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The technology developed by the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics for producing methyl methoxyacetate through acetal carbonylation and methyl glycolate through hydrolysis passed the evaluation of scientific and technological achievements. Author/Source: Modern Coal Chemical Engineering; Date: December 4, 2022; Views: 21. On December 1, the technology, which holds independent intellectual property rights and was developed by the team led by Academician Liu Zhongmin from the Department of Low-Carbon Catalysis and Engineering (DNL12) at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, passed the evaluation organized by the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation through a video conference. The evaluation meeting was chaired by Wang Xiujiang, deputy director of the Science, Technology and Equipment Department of the Petrochemical Federation. Academician Xie Kechang served as the chairman of the evaluation committee, while Academicians He Mingyuan and Bao Xinhe acted as its vice chairmen. At the meeting, Researcher Zhu Wenliang from Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics delivered a technical report titled “Technology for the Carboxylation of Methyl Acetal to Produce Methyl Methoxyacetate and Its Hydrolysis to Produce Methyl Glycolate,” in which he introduced the background of the project, the technical approach, the innovative aspects, and the intellectual property involved. Researcher Ni Youming and Senior Engineer Liu Yingchun presented reports on this technology, namely the “Report on Catalyst and Reaction Process Research and Scale-up” and the “Engineering Study Report”. The experts from the evaluation committee carefully reviewed the novelty search report and related assessment materials, and had in-depth exchanges and discussions with the R&D team on scientific and technical issues as well as future development prospects. Finally, the experts on the evaluation committee unanimously agreed that this achievement features outstanding innovation, mild reaction conditions, significant technical advantages, complete independent intellectual property rights, broad application prospects, and is at the international leading level ； It is recommended to accelerate the construction of industrial demonstration facilities. Glycolic acid/methyl glycolate are important organic synthesis intermediates and chemical products, widely used in the chemical industry and consumer chemicals. At the same time, glycolic acid/methyl glycolate is also a monomer for the biodegradable plastic polyglycolic acid (PGA). Polyglycolic acid combines excellent gas barrier properties, biocompatibility, and degradability, making it a highly promising biodegradable material. However, the current synthetic methods for glycolic acid/methyl glycolate are mainly the liquid-phase carbonylation route using formaldehyde and the hydrolysis route using chloroacetic acid. Due to harsh reaction conditions, high pollution, difficulty in preparation, and high costs, it is challenging to implement it on a large scale. The project team innovatively proposed a technical route for the production of methyl glycolate through acetal carbonylation and hydrolysis, and verified the feasibility of this technology through pilot-scale, pilot plant, and industrial-scale studies, thereby opening up a new technical pathway for the development of coal chemical industry. This technology uses molecular sieve catalysts, featuring mild reaction conditions and ease of scale-up, making it suitable for the large-scale industrial production of glycolic acid/methyl glycolate. This work was supported by projects such as the Class A Pilot Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, “Key Technologies and Demonstrations for Efficient Coal Conversion”.