I rarely look in the serious or novel forums...
So it was quite funny when I stumbled upon this thread today.
You'll see why in a minute...
I disagree with all of you a little bit. This was first discussed years ago by some old cats on the old, old, old, old Hive. Then Prefix brought it up here,
Post 30904
(Prefix: "1,4-butanediol to GBL - Will this work?", Methods Discourse) and a lively discussion ensued. Following this, SWIM did some research and aquisition.
In the other ref. the only difference is, it does not use any addition of NaOH or KoH and the catalyst is different.
Anyways, SWIM made the catalyst exactly as per synth on Rhodium's website. (The other one is a pain in the ass.) It proceeded as written and could be made by a 3 year old. SWIM made about 450gm. Then, following the ref. from Prefix he proceeded on a test run with 8L BDO, to see if all was as intended.
SWIM said it works like a charm and all went as written, including the 99% yeild. So one can only assume the NaOH is put in there to fuck up 20% of your GBL.
Foxy, this is much easier, faster and higher yeilding then the ref. you suggest.
The funny thing I elluded to, is the irony of stumbling on this thread as SWIM was taking a break to let the mantle cool, after a 12L batch finished!
Off to distill we go.....
Bored...