Catalytic behavior of concentrated heteropolyacid solution in acylation ofanisole with acetic anhydride

The catalytic behavior of concentrated heteropolyacid solution in acylation . of anisole with acetic anhydride has been investigated under the reaction conditions such as molar ratio of anisole to acetic anhydride, reaction te mperature and mass ratio of reactant to catalyst. When the molar ratio of a nisole to acetic anhydride is changed from 2:1 to 1:1, the yield of methoxy acetophenone (MOAP) increases a little, but when it is changed from 1: 1 to 1: 2, the yield has a greater increase from 15% to 30%. The yield of MOAP at the reaction temperature of 363 K doubles that at 333 K. The highest yie ld is obtained when the mass ratio of reactant to catalyst is 12.8. The con clusion is therefore that the heteropolyacid in acetic acid can effectively catalyze the acylation of anisole with acetic anhydride, and its activity and selectivity are comparable to those of acid clay and molecular sieve.