POLYMER-SUPPORTED REAGENTS .2. KINETICS OF ESTERIFICATION OF ACRYLIC-ACID WITH N-BUTANOL USING POLYMER-SUPPORTED TITANIUM TETRACHLORIDE AS CATALYST

Crosslinked poly(4-vinylpyridine-co-styrene) was prepared and function alized with titanium tetrachloride to afford the corresponding poly(4- vinylpyridine-co-styrene)-titanium tetrachloride complex. This insolub le functionalized polymer-supported catalyst shows good catalytic acti vity for esterification reactions. In this article, the kinetics of es terification of acrylic acid with n-butanol is reported. The rate of f ormation of product depends on many experimental parameters, viz., sti rring speed, concentration of acrylic acid, catalyst amount, temperatu re, percent active site, percent crosslinking, and mesh size of the po lymer catalyst. The reaction rates were found to increase with increas e in the stirring speed, concentration of acrylic acid, catalyst amoun t, and temperature, and decreases with increasing percentage crosslink ing and mesh size of the polymer beads. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, In c.