Synthesis and characterization of polymeric catalyst

The present work studied the synthesis of styrene-based polymer resins and their application in the glycerol acetylation reaction. Different crosslinkers were evaluated for the formulation of the resins, such as ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA), trimethylolpronane triacrylate (TMPTA) and 1,8 Octadiene in view of a distancing in the polymer matrix increasing, Consequently, the accessibility to the catalytic sites of the resin and compare the results with a commercial resin (Amberlyst 36), which in turn is formulated from styrene and divinylbenzene (S-DVB). Resin characteristics such as ion exchange capacity, fixed pore volume, swelling index, bulk density and fourier transform infrared analysis were analyzed. After the analysis of the resin characteristics, both resins (commercial and synthesized) were evaluated in catalysis. The results obtained indicate a great influence of the crosslinkers, improving the accessibility to the catalytic sites, as described in the adopted hypothesis.