Acetic Acid → Benzyl acetate

Participants

Reaction Steps

A mixture of 70.7 wt. % acetic acid, 23.2 wt. % toluene and 6.1 wt. % water was first, at the rate of 0.198 gm./min., vaporized and then fed into a 3/8" I.D. stainless-steel tubular reactor packed with about 4.7 gm. of palladium on alumina support, at 160°-170° C. and about 30 psig. The palladium content contained in the supported catalyst was about 2% by weight. After about two hours of continuously running the reaction, the gaseous reaction product was directly sent to an on-line G.C. analyzer. The G.C. analysis showed that about 15% of toluene was converted; and that no product other than benzyl acetate was formed from the vapor phase reaction. A check based on the feed/product material balance indicated that the yield of benzyl acetate was over 90 mole % of toluene reacted.

Provenance & Evidence