Synthesis of Dipentaerythritol by Reactive Extrusion

Dipentaerythritol (DPE) is a polyol with a wide range of applications in coating, painting, or lubricant industries. In this study, a method to synthesize DPE starting from pentaerythritol (PE) by using a solvent-free reactive extrusion continuous process is proposed. A yield of 11% with a 58% selectivity was obtained in less than 5 min using 1 mol % of p-toluenesulfonic acid (PTSA) at 230 °C with a PE feed rate of 2 kg/h. The use of a solvent as liquid-assisted grinding (LAG) or a polymer as polymer-assisted grinding (POLAG) was also investigated, but only dilution effects were observed.