Microwave-assisted preparation of naphthenic acid esters

Abstract

The synthesis of esters of natural petroleum acids of the naphthenic type assisted with microwave irradiation under the conditions of acid catalysis was carried out with various alcohols: methanol, ethanol, n-butanol and tert-butyl alcohol. Microwave dielectric heating of the reaction mixture in an unmodified microwave oven with activation of the naphthenic acids with sulfuric and p-toluenesulfonic acid afforded the esters of the naphthenic acids. Depending on the catalyst and the steric and nucleophilic properties of the alcohols, the yield of naphthenic esters ranged from 31.25 % to 88.90 %. As a consequence of microwave dielectric heating, the esterification time was reduced from 6–10 h to 5 min.

Keywords

• naphtenic acids
• methyl-
• ethyl-
• n-butyl- and tert-butyl esters
• microwave dielectric heating