The hydrophilic/hydrophobic effect of porous solid acid catalysts on mixed liquid phase reaction of esterification

The esterification between n-butanol and acetic acid was catalyzed by SBA-15 with a heteropoly acid fixed in the channels, which was synthesized with different hydrophilic/hydrophobic property. In a rigorous sealed batch reactor, the conversions of the reactants surpassed the limit of chemical equilibrium with the hydrophilic catalyst, from which the hydrophobic n-butyl acetate would be rejected. The counter-reaction of hydrolysis was then suppressed. The concept demonstrated in the current work sheds light on the design of practical catalysts and reactors free of complicated separation processes for a reaction in oil/water mixing phase.