Magnetically recyclable solid acid catalyst Fe3O4@ETMS-TETA-SO3H for efficient alcoholysis of dioscin from Dioscorea Zingiberensis C.H.Wrigh

A new type magnetic solid acid catalyst (Fe3O4@ETMS-TETA-SO3H) was prepared and applied in the alcoholysis of dioscin from Dioscorea Zingiberensis C.H.Wrigh to obtain diosgenin for the first time. The solid acid was characterized by FTIR, TGA, TEM, SEM, EDS-mapping, XRD, VSM and XPS, respectively. The results showed that the magnetic solid acid has good stability and can be recovered after 5 runs with little mass loss. The most innovative point is that its extraction activity is 8.8% higher than that of equivalent quality H2SO4. This work provided a potential clean production approach for extraction diosgenin from biomass. [Display omitted] •A new magnetic solid acid Fe3O4@ETMS-TETA@SO3H was successfully prepared•Magnetic solid acid was first used to extract diosgenin by alcoholysis•Catalytic efficiency by the solid acid is higher than traditional H2SO4 hydrolysis