Synthesis, characterization and evaluation of sulfonic resins as catalysts

Ion-exchange resins have been often used as catalysts especially those based on styrene-divinylbenzene copolymers with sulfonic acid groups in the aromatic rings of polymer chains. That is due to the advantages of heterogenous catalysis over the homogeneous acid catalysis. Moreover, resin catalysts can often lead to high selectivity in organic reactions due to the matrix effects. Therefore, the study of copolymers synthesis conditions to determine the type of polymer structure produced as well as the characterization of sulfonic resins obtained thereof are of great interest. The current paper describes the synthesis, characterization and evaluation as catalysts of sulfonic resins derived from polymer supports synthesized by aqueous suspension polymerization of styrene and divinylbenzene. The reaction conditions were varied and polymer supports with different physical properties and morphological characteristics were obtained. The polymer supports were chemically modified by sulfonation. The resultant sulfonic resins had their catalyst activity evaluated in the esterification of acetic acid with n-butanol. © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.