AbstractThe esterification kinetics of difunctional neopentyl glycol and trifunctional trimethylol propane with monofunctional 1,4‐tert‐butyl benzoic acid was studied in the melt phase at 200°C in the presence of a metal catalyst. The rate of conversion was monitored via titrations and by determination of the relative concentrations of products and reactants using HPLC with a UV detector. A small but significant positive substitution effect was found for neopentyl glycol (KDA= 1.15) and none was found for trimethylol propane. The reaction rate constant of neopentyl glycol with the acid is about 40 higher than that of trimethylol propane with the acid. A second‐order overall reaction order was used to compute the rate con
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