Selectivity of formation and yield of dicarboxylic acid mono- and diesters under stationary conditions

Abstract

The effect of temperature, catalyst type, alcohol and dicarboxylic acid structures, as well as reagents ratio on the selectivity of formation and yield of mono- and diesters has been determined under stationary conditions for adipic (AA) and succinic acids (SA) esterification by C2-C5 aliphatic alcohols. It has been proved by the theory and experiments that maximum selectivity of dicarboxylic acids (DCA) monoesters formation during their esterification by alcohols is achieved at the ratio between flow rate constants of monoester and DCA less than 0.1. The high yield of monoester (40-60 %) was found to be for only such reaction systems as SA-2-methylpropan-1-ol (catalysts H2SO4 and p-toluenesulfoacid) and SA-pentan-1-ol (catalyst p-toluenesulfoacid).