Production Method for Dimethoxymethane

Dimethoxymethane (DMM) has uses both in multiple consumer products and as a renewable source of energy. Consumer products that use DMM include perfumes, resins, adhesives, paint strippers and coatings. Due to recent environmental concerns with diesel and a limited supply of fossil fuels, there is also interest in using DMM as a form of biodiesel and/or diesel fuel additive.

If DMM is to be used as a significant source of fuel or fuel additive, the production of DMM should dramatically increase. The current method for producing DMM from methanol does so through a two-step process. This process is especially difficult to implement on a large industrial scale.

Several studies have reported on producing DMM through a one-step method. The key to such production has been found to depend on the catalyst used for the reaction. This project focuses on DMM production using multiple metal oxide catalysts.