Benzyl benzoate and dibenzyl ether from of benzoic acid and benzyl alcohol under microwave irradiation using a SiO2-SO3H catalyst

Abstract

A sulfonated silica gel of small surface area with large pore diameters was prepared from the sodium silicate obtained from the reaction of construction sand and sodium carbonate, and sulfated with concentrated sulfuric acid. At 7%-wlw it promotes in 5 min the Fischer-Speier esterification of benzoic acid/benzyl alcohol in 93% yields, and at higher concentrations, dibenzyl ether is produced selectively and quantitatively, in solvent free reactions induced by microwave irradiation. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.