Processes for making renewable source based citrate esters and acylated citrate esters

摘要

Improved processes are described for making trialkyl esters and acylated trialkyl esters of carboxylic acids as well as epoxidized trialkyl esters and acylated trialkyl carboxylate esters such as are used in developing plasticized PVC compositions. In particular processes are described for conducting the esterification and acylation steps involved in making the acylated trialkyl esters in a single vessel without an intermediate purification step by means of a Lewis acid metal triflate catalyst.