A research team has developed an environmentally friendly process for producing acrylic acid and its esters from glyceric acid – without the use of hydrogen gas. The method uses a rhenium-based catalyst and opens up new perspectives for sustainable raw materials in polymer production.

Acrylates are among the most important precursors in the paints and coatings industry – but so far, they have mostly come from fossil sources. A research team led by Maja Gabri？ and Miha Grilc is now presenting a new way to produce acrylic acid and methyl acrylate based on bio-based glycerine – without the use of hazardous hydrogen gas.

At the heart of the process is Re/C catalysis in methanol as the reaction medium. At a temperature of 150 °C and under a nitrogen atmosphere, combined yields of the target products of up to 65% were achieved within 72 hours. The process is based on deoxydehydration (DODH), which has so far mostly only been realised in a hydrogen atmosphere.

Process can be transferred to other alcohols

It is interesting to note that if the reaction is carried out under 5 bar of hydrogen and at 180°C, the reaction rate increases significantly – by a factor of twenty. Over 90% DODH products can then be generated within just 10 hours. Nevertheless, the focus of research is clearly on the H？-free variant, as it avoids risks associated with handling compressed gases and fits better into industrial standards of sustainable production.

Another advantage is that the process can easily be transferred to other alcohols. This means that different alkyl acrylates can be synthesised – an important step towards flexible, sustainable raw material sources for the polymer and coatings industry.

Source: Gabri？, M. et al., Green Chemistry, Issue 14, 2025, DOI: 10.1039/d4gc02175k