Study on synthesis of a new-type antiseptics-dimethyl fumarate

Synthesis of dimethyl fumarate by esterification of maleic anhydride with methanol catalyzed by solid acid SO42-/ZrO2- MoO3 was proposed in the paper. The influences of catalyst content, raw material ratio and reaction time on the yield of product were investigated. The optimum reaction conditions were obtained as follows: methanal/mateic anhydride = 6:1 (malar ratio). Weight of the catalyst = 1.5 % (based on the weight of maleic anhydride and methanol), reaction time 3h. The yield of DMF is above 93 % .