Kinetics of acetic acid esterification with propanol in the presence of supported molybdena catalysts

The present work focused on the investigation of molybdena oxides supported on CeO2 and Al2O3 as catalysts for acetic acid esterification with propanol. The effects of various reaction parameters such as reaction time, molar ratio of acetic acid-to-alcohol, temperature, catalyst type and loading on acetic acid conversion were investigated in detail. The catalyst with 10 % molybdenum oxide on alumina was found to exhibit excellent catalytic behavior leading to acetic acid conversion of 76 % in about 2 h and 100 % selectivity toward propyl acetate. The reaction kinetics was investigated and the experimental results demonstrated that acetic acid esterification with propanol follows a dual-site Langmuir–Hinshelwood-Hougen-Watson reaction mechanism, which involves both acetic acid and propanol adsorption on catalyst active sites.