Butylene glycol diacetate → Acetic Acid

Participants

Reaction Steps

The tube reactor, charged with 110 grams of alumina catalyst (1/8 inch pellets, Harshaw Al-0104T), is maintained at 250° C while 25.0 grams of 1,4-butanediol diacetate and 50 ml. of water are admitted to the evaporator simultaneously from different addition funnels over a 20 minute period. The aqueous effluent collected contains tetrahydrofuran, acetic acid, and about 10% of the original diacetate. The mixture is again taken through the tube. The effluent from this second pass contains, as found by quantitative glpc analysis, 0.3 grams of residual butanediol diacetate (1% unconverted), 9.2 grams of tetrahydrofuran (90% yield), and 15.9 grams of acetic acid (93% yield).

Provenance & Evidence