Massimiliano Caiti
Current Organizations / Institutes
The organizations/institutes from the scholar's latest article
Research Subjects
Research Interests
Massimiliano Caiti has a total of 2 co-authors. Here are the top co-authors by number of shared publications:
- Ceri Hammond
Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, U.K.
1 shared publication - Giulia Tarantino
Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
1 shared publication
Latest Publications
- Open Access
- 29 September 2020
- Published by Wiley in ChemCatChem
- Vol. 12 (24) , 6393-6400
Developing a Continuous Process for Isosorbide Production from Renewable Sources
Increasing demand for isosorbide has led to the search for sustainable and efficient methods for its production from sorbitol, a biomass‐derived platform molecule. However, sorbitol dehydration to isosorbide is currently performed with mineral acids, resulting in safety and toxicity issues. Although some progress has been made towards replacement of liquid acids with heterogeneous catalysts, continuous systems with good stability, selectivity and productivity remain scarce. Herein, sorbitol dehydration to isosorbide is efficiently performed in a continuous, liquid‐phase plug flow reactor, utilising an acidic zeolite (H‐β (38)) as solid catalyst. H‐β (38) is shown to catalyse the reaction without loss of activity for 55 hours on stream, achieving an isosorbide productivity of 9670 gisosorbide/kgcatalyst. This value is 4 times greater than any other continuous process reported in literature to date, even though the reaction was terminated prior to any loss of activity being detected. Diagnostic kinetic studies reveal improved operational conditions, and characterisation of the post‐reaction catalyst is provided.
- 29 September 2020
- Published by Wiley in ChemCatChem
- Vol. 12 (24) , 6393-6400
Open AccessDeveloping a Continuous Process for Isosorbide Production from Renewable Sources
Increasing demand for isosorbide has led to the search for sustainable and efficient methods for its production from sorbitol, a biomass‐derived platform molecule. However, sorbitol dehydration to isosorbide is currently performed with mineral acids, resulting in safety and toxicity issues. Although some progress has been made towards replacement of liquid acids with heterogeneous catalysts, continuous systems with good stability, selectivity and productivity remain scarce. Herein, sorbitol dehydration to isosorbide is efficiently performed in a continuous, liquid‐phase plug flow reactor, utilising an acidic zeolite (H‐β (38)) as solid catalyst. H‐β (38) is shown to catalyse the reaction without loss of activity for 55 hours on stream, achieving an isosorbide productivity of 9670 gisosorbide/kgcatalyst. This value is 4 times greater than any other continuous process reported in literature to date, even though the reaction was terminated prior to any loss of activity being detected. Diagnostic kinetic studies reveal improved operational conditions, and characterisation of the post‐reaction catalyst is provided.