Esterification of carboxylic acids using iron complexes

Abstract

Esterification of carboxylic acids with alcohols using iron reagent was studied. Ethyl benzoate as a model was obtained in good yields. The effect of the main variables involved in the process, the amount of iron reagent, the amount of ethanol and reaction time has been investigated. For comparison, type of iron reagent, type of carboxylic acids and type of alcohols were also studied. The optimal conditions could be applied for the synthesis of selected fragrances which were obtained in excellent yields. Furthermore, in the case of using alcohols containing benzylic site, the etherification was also competitive. In addition, it was found that FeCl [subscript 3].6H [subscript 2] O was suitable to perform not only the esterification but also transesterification. This iron reagent also indicated good results for transesterification of vegetable oil with methanol to biodiesel.