Study on the Catalytic Synthesis of n-Butyl Acetate by the Tin Doped Solid Superacid

SO42-/ZrO2 and SnSZ solid superacids have been prepared with sol-gel method.The acid strength of catalyst has been studied by Hammett indicator method,and their esterificattion activity for n-butanol with acetic acid has been examined.Activity of Sn(Ⅳ)SZ catalysts in esterificattion was better than activity of SO42-/ZrO2.The results showed that the optimum conditions were as follows:the molar ratio of n-butanol to acetic acid was 1.4:l,the weight of the catalyst was 0.5 g(if the weight of acetic acid was 0.41 mol),the reaction time was 3～4 h,the yield of butyl acetate was about 96%.