A selective and convenient synthesis of 2-(bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino)ethyl alkanoate over mixed metal oxides

Esterification reactions carried out using various mineral acids are threat to environment hence process modification using commercially viable heterogeneous catalysts are in demand. In current work, the esterification of tri-ethanolamine (TEA, C6H15O3N) with several fatty acids in liquid phase has been investigated on a series of heterogeneous mixed metal oxides catalyst prepared by co-precipitation method, crystallizing with spinel lattice such as, CuFe2O4, ZnFe2O4, CoFe2O4, NiFe2O4 and 10% (w/w) ZnFe2O4 supported on SiO2 and ZrO2. The best catalyst for the selective preparation of 2-(bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino)ethyl alkanoate was 10% (w/w) ZnFe2O4 supported on ZrO2. Detail comparison of a 10% (w/w) ZnFe2O4/ZrO2 prepared by co-precipitation method was carried out with 10% (w/w) ZnFe2O4/ZrO2 prepared by template route for the selective formation of 2-(bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino)ethyl alkanoate. The effects of variety of parameters including effect of catalyst preparation were studied in a batch reactor.