Catalytic Synthesis of Ethyl Chloroacetate by Nanometer CeO_2 under Microwave Irradiation

Ethyl chloroacetate was synthesized by esterification of chloroacetic acid and ethanol using nanometer CeO2 as a catalyst under microwave irradiation. The optimum reaction conditions from orthogonal experiments were as follows: chloroacetic acid was 200 mmol; n(ethanol) ∶n(chloroacetic acid) was 2 ∶1; w(CeO2) was 1%; microwave irradiation time was 8 min at 500 W power. The esterification yield was more than 98% under the conditions.