Process for increasingly producing D-Lactide and meso lactide by depolymerizing by back biting polylactide (PLA) said process which comprises: (i) Depolymerizing polylactide into its corresponding dimeric cyclic esters by heating the polylactide in the presence of a catalyst system comprising a catalyst and a co-catalyst in a reaction zone at temperature and pressure at which the polylactide is molten; (ii) Forming a vapor product stream from the reaction zone; (iii) Removing the vapor product stream and optionally condense it; (iv) Recovering, either together or separately meso-lactide, D-lactide and L-lactide.

What is provided is a production method in which a vinyl acetate is reacted with a primary or secondary alcohol represented by Formula (1) and carbon monoxide to produce a first ester compound represented by Formula (2), and the first ester compound is reacted with an alcohol to produce a lactic acid ester represented by Formula (3) and an acetic acid ester represented by Formula (4).

##STR00001##

The subject invention provides synthetic compounds, and compound complexes having catalytic activities towards oxidation or oxygenation, and/or dehydrogenation of various substrates comprising C—H bonds. The catalysts of the subject invention comprise a dinuclear Cu(I)/Cu(II) center that can convert between a resting state and a reactive species. The subject invention also provides methods of using such catalysts for the oxidation of substrates comprising C—H bonds, e.g., hydrocarbons, to synthesize chemicals for use as pharmaceuticals and industrial feedstock.

The present application is directed to a method for the conversion of nitrous acid to dinitrogen gas. In particular, the present application relates to a method for the conversion of nitrous acid to dinitrogen gas by contacting the nitrous acid with an amine-functionalized metal organic framework.

In one embodiment, the present application discloses a catalyst composition comprising: a) a reaction solvent or a reaction medium; b) organometallic nanoparticles comprising: i) a nanoparticle (NP) catalyst, prepared by a reduction of an iron salt in an organic solvent, wherein the catalyst comprises at least one other metal selected from the group consisting of Pd, Pt, Au, Ni, Co, Cu, Mn, Rh, Ir, Ru and Os or mixtures thereof; c) a ligand; and d) a surfactant; wherein the metal or mixtures thereof is present in less than or equal to 50,000 ppm relative to the iron salt.

New diphosphites based on cis-butene-1,4-diol.

In an embodiment, a method of producing a bisphenol comprises reacting a phenolic compound with a reactant comprising one or both of an aldehyde and a ketone in the presence of a catalyst system and methanol to produce the bisphenol; wherein the methanol is present in an amount of 250 to 5,000 ppm based on the total weight of the reactant; wherein the catalyst system comprises an ion-exchange resin comprising a plurality of sulfonic acid sites; and 5 to 35 mol % of an attached promoter molecule based on the total moles of the sulfonic acid sites in the catalyst system; and wherein the attached promoter molecule comprises at least two thiol groups per attached promoter molecule.

New diphosphites based on cis-butene-1,4-diol.

Disclosed is a method for synthesizing a sitagliptin intermediate, the method comprising: in the presence of hydrogen and a transition metal catalyst having a chiral phosphine ligand, subjecting a compound of formula II to an asymmetric reductive amination with ammonia or ammonium salt in a proper organic solvent under the condition of adding an acidic additive to produce a compound of formula I, wherein, an R- or S-configuration of a stereocenter is represented by *; the compound of formula I of R configuration can be used to prepare sitagliptin, and a reaction formula is as follows: R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are each independently selected from hydrogen, C.sub.1-C.sub.12 linear or branched alkyl, C.sub.3-C.sub.12 cycloalkyl, C.sub.2-C.sub.12 alkenyl, C.sub.2-C.sub.12 alkynyl and C.sub.7-C.sub.12 arylalkyl. The method has a high yield and a high ee % value, a mild reaction condition and a low production cost, and is simple to operate, convenient to purify, environmental friendly and suitable for industrial production.

##STR00001##

A method for making organo-metal material involves providing a metal ion source in a medium that removes metal ions from the source and forms 1D metal-containing coordination polymers that self-assemble and precipitate as at least one of a 2D and 3D coordination polymer material that can be thermally treated to produce a porous metal oxide material.