Simultaneous hydration and etherification of isoamylene using sub-azeotropic ethanol: use of ion exchange resins as catalyst

Simultaneous hydration and etherification of isoamylene (a mixture of 17.0% 2-methyl-1-butene and 83.0% 2-methyl-2-butene) was carried out with 80% aqueous ethanol, in a liquid-liquid system, in the presence of cationic ion exchange resin catalysts, Amberlyst-15 and Amberlyst-35. Kinetics of these reactions was studied in a 1.0 &#215; 10<SUP>-4</SUP> m<SUP>3</SUP> capacity autoclave in the temperature range of 50-80&#176;C. The maximum conversion of water to tert-amyl alcohol was obtained at 60&#176;C. The Langmuir-Hinshelwood model was used for describing the course of the reaction. The surface reaction controlling mechanism was found to fit the experimental data very well. The effect of different variables, such as, mole ratio of the reactants, microemulsion media, catalyst loading, etc., on the rate of the reaction was studied