Synthesis of ethyl tert-butyl ether from tert-butyl alcohol and ethanol on strong acid cation-excnage resins

摘要

The etherification between ethanol (EtOH) and tert-butyl alcohol (TBA) in the liquid phase under atmosheric pressure for the production of ethyl tert-butyl ether was studied. Three kinks of strong acid cation-exchange resins, Amberlyst 15 (a-15), S-54 and D-72 in the H~+ form, were used as the catalysts. The effects of termperature, water inhibition, catalyst loading and the reactants molar ratio on the reaction were investigated. The kinetic parameters, such as the activiation energy and inhibition coefficient of water were also compared for the catalysts used. Among the catalysts tested, D-72 shows the highest activity, and S-54 shows the highest selectviity and the lowest effect of water inhibition for the production iof ethyl tert-butyl ether.