Transesterification of the ethyl ester of trifluoroacetic acid to its methyl ester using Amberlyst-15: reaction and purification

Esters of trifluoroacetic acid are compounds having important applications in the process industry. Methyl trifluoroacetate (MTFA) is useful as an intermediate in the manufacture of valuable pharmaceutical and agriculture chemicals. This work has investigated transesterification of ethyl trifluoroacetate (ETFA) to MTFA using Amberlyst-15. Evaluation of reaction kinetics was followed by regression to obtain kinetic parameters. Packed bed reactor experiments were performed thereafter to improve the process and to make the process continuous, wherein conversion of 76% was achieved in 5 h under the conditions used. Starting from a mixture of reactants, a complete process to obtain pure MTFA was developed in this work. For this, liquid-liquid extraction, adsorption over molecular sieves followed by distillation was used.