Al 2 O 3 ‐incorporated CuO / ZnO / MnO 2 ‐based catalysts for selective glycerol carbonate synthesis from glycerol under mild conditions

BACKGROUND Glycerol carbonate (GC) is a valuable glycerol‐derived chemical, and the development of efficient heterogeneous catalytic systems for its synthesis is important for sustainable glycerol valorization. RESULTS In this work, Al 2 O 3 ‐incorporated CuO/ZnO/MnO 2 ‐based catalysts were prepared by co‐precipitation for the transesterification of glycerol (GL) with dimethyl carbonate (DMC). The catalysts were characterized by XRD, FT‐IR, TGA, NH 3 ‐TPD, BET, XPS, and SEM, and the effects of catalyst composition and reaction conditions on catalytic performance were systematically investigated. Among the catalysts examined, the sample with a Cu/Mn molar ratio of 1:2 exhibited the best performance. Under the optimized conditions of 90 °C, 1.5 h, GL/DMC = 1:5, and 3 wt.% catalyst loading, a GC yield of 95.3% with high selectivity was obtained, and the catalyst retained acceptable catalytic performance over repeated cycles. Kinetic and thermodynamic analyses suggested that the reaction proceeds through a Langmuir–Hinshelwood–Hougen–Watson (LHHW)‐type pathway. CONCLUSION Overall, the results indicate that Al 2 O 3 incorporation provides an effective strategy for tuning the structure, stability, and catalytic behavior of CuO/ZnO/MnO 2 ‐based catalysts for selective GC synthesis under relatively mild reaction conditions.