Synthesis of cyclohexyl acetate catalyzed by HClO_4-SiO_2

HClO4-SiO2 was used as a heterogeneous catalyst for the synthesis of cyclohexyl acetate from acetic acid and cyclohexanol with cyclohexane as water entrainer. The effects of dosage of catalyst, ratio of the reactants, the dosage of entrainer and reaction time were investigated. The optimum conditions were:molar ratio of acetic acid to cyclohexane was 1:1.1; the amount of catalyst to acetic acid was 4%,and the reaction time was 3 h.The yield of ester was 94.4%.The catalytic activity was not decreased, when the catalyst was used continuously for 6 times.