Research Progress in the Selective Catalytic Oxidation of Ethylene Glycol to Glycolic Acid

doi:10.6023/cjoc202601006

Abstract

Ethylene glycol (EG), as a key pyrolysis product of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), has abundant sources and enormous output, yet its inherent added value is relatively low. Against the dual challenges of escalating plastic pollution and carbon resource waste, the efficient and selective conversion of PET-derived EG into glycolic acid (GA), a high-value-added chemical, has emerged as a critical pathway to advance the chemical upcycling of plastics and establish a circular economy system. However, traditional GA synthesis processes are generally plagued by harsh reaction conditions, complex procedures, high environmental burden and low atom economy, which fail to meet the urgent demands of green chemical industry development, thus creating an imperative need for efficient and sustainable novel catalytic strategies. This paper systematically reviews the recent research progress in the selective oxidation of EG to GA via four mainstream catalytic strategies: thermocatalysis, electrocatalysis, photocatalysis and enzymatic catalysis. It focuses on summarizing the design concepts and regulation strategies of core catalysts, key performance indicators and process optimization directions in various catalytic systems, conducts a comparative analysis of different catalytic strategies, and deeply dissects the unique advantages and core challenges faced by each technical route. On this basis, combined with the current research bottlenecks, the future development trends are prospected: breaking through the limitations of single catalytic mode to construct multi-field synergistic catalytic systems such as thermo-electro and photo-electro systems, leveraging artificial intelligence technology to assist the rational design of catalysts and precise prediction of reaction paths, focusing on the active site regulation of single-metal catalysts and the ligand modification and structure optimization of metal-organic catalysts, so as to enhance their compatibility and stability with the reaction system.

Key words: ethylene glycol, glycolic acid, thermocatalysis, electrocatalysis, photocatalysis, enzymatic catalysis

Cite this article

Wu Rui, Wu Zhiquan, Zhang Juan, Gao Wenchao, Wang yingxiong, Chang Honghong. Research Progress in the Selective Catalytic Oxidation of Ethylene Glycol to Glycolic Acid[J]. Chinese Journal of Organic Chemistry, doi: 10.6023/cjoc202601006.

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