Dimethyl Fumarate → Dimethyl Succinate

Participants

Reaction Steps

10 ml/hour of a solution of 1 mol of 5-methyl-tetrahydroisobenzofuran-1,3-dione and 2 mol of dimethyl maleate were pumped at 200° C. into the top of a trickle-phase reactor filled with 100 ml of catalyst in tablet form (5% by weight palladium-on-aluminium oxide). The conversion of the dimethyl maleate after passage through the reactor was 100%. No dimethyl fumarate could be detected in the product mixture leaving the reactor. 5-Methylisobenzofuran-1,3-dione and dimethyl succinate had been formed with selectivities of over 95% and over 97% respectively. The conversion of the dehydrogenation was 99.8%. The catalyst showed no signs of deactivation after 500 hours of operation.

Provenance & Evidence