In this work we combine experiments with Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations to investigate the heterogeneous dehydration of propylene glycol. The reactions were carried out with pure, liquid propylene glycol over MFI-framework zeolite catalysts or the mesoporous sulfonic-acid resin Amberlyst 36Dry. When Amberlyst 36Dry was used, propylene glycol dehydrated to form propionaldehyde with 77% selectivity. All of the ...
