Alcohol-mediated esterification of carboxylic acids with carbonates

摘要

A process for making esters from organic acids by means of reacting a carboxylic acid with dialkylcarbonate in an alcohol-containing solvent without any extrinsic acid or base catalyst is described. A benefit of the preparation process is that it can make the separation and extraction of ester products simpler and more facile vis-a-vis conventional isolation techniques.

主权项

1. A method of preparing esters comprising: contacting an organic acid and a dialkylcarbonate in a reaction mixture with an alcohol-containing solvent absent an extrinsic catalyst at a temperature and for a time sufficient to produce esters, wherein said dialkylcarbonate is at least one of the following species: dimethylcarbonate (DMC), diethylcarbonate (DEC), dipropylcarbonate (DPC), or dibutylcarbonate (DBC).