Synthesis of Tributyl Citrate Catalyzed by Sodium Bisulfate

Tributyl citrate was synthesized from citric acid and n_butanol with sodium bisulfate as catalyst. The effect of factors on the yield was studied and the best reaction conditions were found. It went as follows: based on 0.1mol citric acid, molar ratio of n_butanol to citric acid was 4.5, mass of catalyst was 3.5g, reaction time was 2h. The yield of tributyl citrate reached 95.6%. The experimental results showed that sodium bisulfate is an excellent catalyst for synthesis of tributyl citrate.