Synthesis of n-butyl p-hydroxybenzoate catalyzed by H_3PW_(12)O_(40)/TiO_2

H_3PW_(12)O_(40)/TiO_2 catalyst was prepared by sol-gel method and characterized by FT-IR.The H_3PW_(12)O_40/TiO_2 was used as the catalyst for synthesis of n-butyl p-hydroxybenzoate from n-hydroxy ben- zoic acid and n-butyl alcohol.The effects of reactants proportion,catalyst dosage,reaction time and repeated use of the catalyst were investigated and the favorable reaction condition was obtained as follows: p-hydroxy benzoic acid 0.1 mol,n(p-hydroxy benzoic acid):n(n-butyl alcohol) = 1.0:5.0,dosage of the catalyst 1.2 g,reaction time 4.0 h.n-Butyl p-hydroxybenzoate yield of over 85% was attained under the above-mentioned reaction condition.