Preparation of a novel silica gel-adsorbed Brønsted acid catalyst for the solvent-free esterification of bromoacetic acid with benzyl alcohol

A new bifunctional Brønsted acid catalyst that contains two sulfo groups was prepared. The adsorption of this new bifunctional Brønsted acid catalyst on silica gel made it possible to be reused 10 times without a loss of catalytic activity in the solvent-free esterification of bromoacetic acid with an equiv. of benzyl alcohol without the formation of dibenzyl ether.

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► The esterification with catalyst uses an only stoichiometric amount of benzyl alcohol.
► The esterification with catalyst does not require a solvent.
► The esterification with catalyst resulted in completely suppression the formation of dibenzyl ether.
► The catalyst reuse in the esterification 10 times without a loss of catalytic activity.