Behavior of cation-exchange resins employed as heterogeneous catalysts for esterification of oleic acid with trimethylolpropane

- Ion-exchange resins were studied in the esterification of OA with TMP.
- Gel resin must be pre-swollen to achieve high catalytic performance.
- Macro-reticular resins do not need any pre-treatment to be active.
- Resins slightly lose their activity after the first use.
- Activity decay is due to partial blocking of the active sites by co-produced water.