4-Hydroxy cinnamic acid (10 g, 61 mmol) was combined with 1-hexadecanol (14.0 g, 58 mmol), p-toluenesulfonic acid (1.2 g, 6.3 mmol) and 100 ml toluene and heated to 140° C. for 24 h with continual removal of water using a Dean-Stark distillation apparatus. The mixture was cooled to room temperature and 50 ml ethyl acetate added. The solution was washed with water, 5% sodium hydrogen carbonate, brine and then dried over magnesium sulfate. The product was recrystallized from ethyl acetate to give 4.8 g 3-(4-hydroxy-phenyl)-acrylic acid hexadecyl ester.
