Method for producing carbonate esters, and catalytic structure for producing carbonate esters

Abstract

Provided are a method for producing carbonate esters, and a catalytic structure for producing carbonate esters, whereby solid catalyst powder formation and detachment are suppressed and superior carbonate ester reaction efficiency is yielded when a catalytic structure constituted by a sufficient quantity of a cerium-oxide-containing solid catalyst supported on a substrate is used. The method for producing carbonate esters includes reacting a monohydric alcohol and carbon dioxide in the presence of a catalytic structure and a hydrating agent. The catalytic structure includes a substrate and a catalytic layer that is formed on at least a portion of the surface of the substrate and contains a solid catalyst and an inorganic binder. The solid catalyst contains cerium oxide. The supported quantity of the solid catalyst is 15 g/m2 to 200 g/m2, inclusive. The inorganic binder contains silica and/or alumina.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.