Method for manufacturing (2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxolan-4-yl)methanol

Abstract

A method for manufacturing solketal ((2,2-Dimethyl-1,3-dioxolan-4-yl)methanol) includes: (1) milling starting reagents, including at least: glycerol, a catalyst selected from a hard Lewis acid including at least one transition metal, and acetone, the molar ratio (glycerol):(acetone) being less than or equal to 0.8; preferably less than or equal to 0.7, at an ambient temperature greater than or equal to 50° C., preferably greater than or equal to 56° C., in a three-dimensional microbead mill in a liquid phase for a residence time less than or equal to 15 minutes, preferably less than or equal to 10 minutes, and in particular less than or equal to 5 minutes; (2) recovering, as output from the mill, a final composition including solketal and, where appropriate, one or more sub-products corresponding to the starting reagents that have not reacted and/or to 1,3-O-isopropylidene-glycerol, and (3) optionally, separating the solketal from the one or more sub-products.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.