THE EFFECTS OF THE REACTION VARIABLES ON THE YIELDS OF ACRYLIC-ACID AND METHYL ACRYLATE IN THE REACTION OF ACETIC-ACID WITH METHANOL IN THE PRESENCE OF OXYGEN

The effects of the reaction variables on the yields of the aldol condensation products, i.e., acrylic acid and methyl acrylate, in the reaction of acetic acid with methanol in the presence of gaseous oxygen was studied using a V-Ti-P ternary oxide catalyst with an atomic ratio of 1:2:6, respectively. The best catalyst performance was obtained with an oxygen/methanol molar ratio of between 0.5 to 0.75. The yield of acrylic acid decreased with increasing the methanol concentration, while that of methyl acrylate increased; the sum of the two yields increased with methanol concentration above 360 °C. The feed rate did not have much effect on the yield, except at high conversions. Better catalytic performance was observed with longer contact times at lower temperatures than with shorter contact times at higher temperatures.