Synthesis of n-butyl lactate accelerated with microwave irradiation

Butyl lactate was synthesized by lactic acid and n-butyl alcohol,catalyzed by sodium bisulfate and accelerated with microwave irradiation.The effects of microwave irradiation power,reaction time,mole ratio of the raw materials and the amounts of catalyst on esterification reaction conversion were discussed.The results showed that the ester yield is higher than 94% under the optimum preparation conditions: the mole ratio of n-butyl alcohol and lactic acid is 3∶1;for 0.05 mol of lactic acid the dosage of sodium bisulfate is 0.35 g,and the microwave irradiation time is 7 min with power of 462 W.