Synthesis Of2-ethylhexyl Acetate By Transesterification

Methyl acetate (MA) is a byproduct during the production of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA).From1ton of PVA, about1.5~1.7tons of MA is produced. It is generally hydrolyzed by acatalyst to obtain acetic acid and methanol (MH), which is the common method of treatingmethyl acetate in industry. However, it became uneconomical since the price of acetic acidhas been decreased rapidly in recent years. Furthermore, the hydrolysis of MA has manydisadvantages, such as the high requirement for the equipment and more energy extensiveconsumed. Thus, a direct transesterification of superfluous MA with alcohol at an industrialscale is therefore became a sustainable routine for high value petrochemicals producing. Theby-product, MH, can undergo alcoholysis reaction once again to form PVA, or collected aseasy-sell petrochemical after recycled-transesterification process. Since2-ethylhexyl acetate(2EHA) is commonly used to promote flow and retard blushing in formulations such aslacquers, lacquer emulsions, screen inks, baking enamels, and air-dry enamels. It is anexcellent solvent for nitrocellulose and is widely used in the leather industry. One of thepossibilities to obtain the desired products would be the transesterification of MA with2-ethylhexanol (2EH), which leads to MH and2EHA.The major works are as follows:(1)Synthesis of2EHA using concentrated sulfuric acid as a catalyst(2)Synthesis of2EHA using strong-acid cationic exchange resin NKC-9as a catalyst.(3)Fatty alcohol acetate was synthesized by self-prepared1-alkyl-3-methylimidazoliumimidazolide. Most suitable carbon chain catalyst was chosen and optimized reactive condition.(4)1-Alkyl-3-methylimidazolium imidazolide and Fatty alcohol acetate were confirmedby FT-IR,1HNMR and13CNMR spectra.(5)Qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis were researched by using gaschromatography(6) Mechanism of transesterification reaction catalyzed by three different catalysts wasdiscussed and the results were compared.