Patent ID: 8921261

Claim:
A method for producing a catalyst suitable for the synthesis of glycerol carbonate from glycerol, the method comprising preparing an aqueous solution of a mixture of zinc nitrate and aluminum nitrate (step 1), adding an aqueous NaOH solution, an aqueous KOH solution, or a mixture of an aqueous NH 4 (OH) solution and an aqueous NaOH solution to the aqueous solution of the metal nitrate mixture (step 2), aging the mixture of step 2 (step 3), filtering and washing the aged mixture to obtain a solid (step 4), and calcining the solid under an oxygen, nitrogen or helium atmosphere to produce a catalyst (step 5), wherein the ratio of the density of acid sites to that of base sites on the catalyst surface is from 0.3 to 2.0 and wherein the mixing molar ratio of the zinc to the aluminum is adjusted to 7:3 to 8:2.