Conclusions
It has been shown that the effectiveness of certain divalent metal salts as esterification catalysts can be quantitatively compared and that for the Group II B series their effectiveness is inversely proportional to their ionic volume. The rates of esterification using these metal salts are not as great as for strong acids, but it is probable that the mechanism is similar and that the metal salts act as acids in the general sense.
The rates of esterification differ appreciably for different primary polyols. It is also probable that these differences are related to the comparative acidity or basicity of the alcohols.
It would be particularly desirable to investigate the activity of the catalysts in different alcohols. It is possible that infrared studies might show formation of a complex between the catalyst and either the alcohol or the acid or both. A number of possibilities may be formulated; at present we lack critical evidence to distinguish between them and this area provides a fruitful field for further research.
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Dunlap, L.H., Heckles, J.S. Catalyzed esterification of oleic acid. J Am Oil Chem Soc 37, 281–285 (1960). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02631766
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02631766