Improving chemical production processes by selective byproduct removal in a pervaporation membrane reactor

Abstract

Esters have applications as flavoring agents, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. Esterification and transesterification are convenient means to synthesize esters. Frequently, a large excess of one of the reactants is mandatory to obtain good yields for these equilibrium driven reactions. Selective removal of the reaction by-product allows for an increased yield. In this paper, the esterification of oleic acid with ethanol and the transesterification of methyl benzoate with n-butanol were studied in pervaporation membrane reactors equipped with perfluorinated composite membranes. A 95% yield of ethyl oleate was reached within 60 hours and the conversion of methyl benzoate increased from 52% to 77%.