Kinetic relationships governing addition of methanol to methyl acrylate

The kinetic relationships governing the addition of methanol to methyl acrylate and the reverse reaction, i.e., the elimination of methanol from methyl /beta/-methoxypropionate catalyzed by sulfuric and p-toluenesulfonic acids, were investigated. The rate of the forward reaction depends on the concentrations of methyl acrylate, methanol, and the catalyst, and the rate of the reverse reaction depends on the concentration of methyl /beta/-methoxypropionate and of the catalyst. A kinetic expression which describes the process well was obtained.