Kinetics of the liquid phase esterification of acrylic acid with butanol catalysed by cation exchange resin

Abstract

Abstract Esterification of butyl alcohol with acrylic acid catalysed by Amberlyst‐15 cation exchange resin was carried out in a batch reactor in the liquid phase in the temperature range 333 to 364 K and 1 atm. The reaction rate increased with an increase in catalyst concentration and decreased with an increase in water concentration. The rate data were correlated with a kinetic model based on inhibition by water. The apparent activation energy was found to be 59.5 kJ mol −1 for the formation of butyl acrylate.