Esterification of salicylic acid using Ce⁴⁺ modified cation-exchange resin as catalyst

The esterification of salicylic acid with methanol was carried out over a series of Ce⁴⁺ modified cation-exchange resins. The effect of different reaction conditions was studied on the conversion of salicylic acid, and the optimal reaction parameters were obtained. The experimental results indicated that Ce(SO₄)₂/001×7 was an effective catalyst for the synthesis of methyl salicylate. The conversion of salicylic acid could reach 93.3% while its selectivity was more than 99.0%. SEM-EDS and TG-DSC analysis were employed to characterize the structure and property of the catalyst. Besides, the catalytic performance of Ce(SO₄) ₂/001×7 in the esterification of salicylic acid with different alcohols was compared. The reusability of Ce(SO₄)₂/ 001×7 was also studied by using salicylic acid and methanol as model substrates. The mechanism was proposed for the esterification of salicylic acid with methanol over Ce⁴⁺ modified cation-exchange resins.