Readily Scalable Methodology for the Synthesis of Nonsymmetric Glyceryl Diethers by a Tandem Acid-/Base-Catalyzed Process

A useful optimized synthetic methodology has been designed for the synthesis of nonsymmetric glyceryl diethers from epichlorohydrin. A tandem process combining a cheap, heterogeneous, and fully recoverable acid catalyst and alkaline hydroxide is used for the synthesis of a variety of glycerol-derived ethers bearing different alkyl substituents in 1 and 3 positions. Different heterogeneous acid catalysts have been tested for the reaction of epichlorohydrin with several alcohols, the best results being obtained with readily available recoverable and inexpensive montmorillonite-K10 and Nafion NR50. For the second reaction step, potassium hydroxide is used. In all the cases, good yields of the desired glyceryl diethers are obtained in smooth reaction conditions, always with total conversion of epichlorohydrin and without the need of intermediate purification. Scale-up of the tandem process has been carried out with good results.