Oxidative Carbonylation – Heterogeneous

Abstract Oxidative carbonylation of alcohols is mainly exploited for the production of carbonate and oxalate esters. Most important is the manufacture of dimethyl carbonate (DMC), an intermediate in the non‐phosgene route to aromatic polycarbonates. Two processes are industrially adopted. In the one‐step EniChem process, DMC is produced by copper chloride catalyzed, liquid‐phase methanol oxy‐carbonylation. In the two‐step Ube process, methanol is first converted to methyl nitrite, which in turn undergoes palladium‐catalyzed, gas‐phase carbonylation to DMC. Further potentially important industrial applications of oxidative carbonylation relate to the production of diphenyl carbonate, carbamate, and acrylate esters.