Synthesis of sec-Butyl Acetate Catalyzed by Ferric Chloride Supported on Activated Carbon

The acylation of sec-butanol and acetic anhydride was studied by using ferric chloride supported on activated carbon as heterogeneous catalyst. The effects of different factors such as the mass of catalyst, the mole ratio of sec-butanol to acetic anhydride and reaction time on the yield of sec-butyl acetate were carefully studied. The results show that ferric chloride supported on activated carbon exhibits excellent catalytic activity. Under the reaction conditions of 0.1 mole acetic anhydride, mole ratio of sec-butanol to acetic anhydride is 1.1,the mass catalyst is 0.30 g and reaction time is 30 minutes, yield of isoamyl acetate reaches 97.5%. The catalyst can be repeatedly used five times without lossing its catalytic. The product is colorless, transparent and with high purity. The product is characterized by refractive index and IR..