Esterification of acetic acid with ethylene glycol over environmentally benign mixed oxide solid acid catalysts

Manohar Basude

Abstract

Catalysis of several mixed oxide solid acid catalysts for esterification of acetic acid with ethylene glycol has been described. In esterification reaction influence of catalyst amount, reaction time and promoter used in preparation of supported catalysts has been studied. All the supported catalysts were prepared using wet impregnation technique. The X-ray diffraction profiles of zirconia based samples exhibited presence of tetragonal ZrO2 phase. It was testified that the Mo/ZrO2 catalyst was effective catalyst for esterification of acetic acid with ethylene glycol. Higher activity of Mo/ZrO2 is attributed to presence of greater amount of tetragonal phase of ZrO2and higher surface acidity.