Transesterification reaction of dimethyl terephthalate by 2-ethylhexanol in the presence of heterogeneous catalysts under solvent-free condition

In this study, the synthesis of bis-(2-ethythexyl) tereplithalate, via the transesterification reaction of dimethyl tereplithalate (DMT) by 2-ethylhexanol in the presence of different heterogeneous catalysts, such as Pb(OAc)(2)center dot 3H(2)O, Cd(OAc)(2)center dot 2H(2)O, Zn(OAc)(2)center dot 2H(2)O, Hg(OAc)(2), Ca(OAc)(2)-H2O, Cu(OAc)(2)-H2O, NaOAc, CaCO3, CaO, ZnSO4-7H(2)O, and sulfated zirconia, has been investigated. The reactivity of the catalysts in the reaction progress has been studied and compared. It was found that, hydrated cadmium acetate and sulfated zirconia were reactive catalysts to this reaction. The extent of transesterification of methyl ester groups reached up to 93% and 85.6% using these catalysts, respectively.