Environment-friendly synthesis of diethyl carbonate via ethyl carbamate alcoholysis over cerium oxide catalyst.

A series of cerium oxide catalysts were prepared by simply calcination of nitrate cerium, and used for clean synthesis of diethyl carbonate (DEC) by ethyl carbamate (EC) alcoholysis. 51% conversion and 82% selectivity were obtained with catalyst CeO2-600. Almost the same activity as the fresh sample could be regained if the used catalyst was recalcined at 600 °C. XPS, XRD, CO2-TPD and BET study suggested that high surface area and the presence of abundant basic sites are important to achieve a higher catalytic performance.