Ion exchange resins as catalysts for the liquid-phase dehydration of 1-butanol to di-n-butyl ether

This work reports the production of di-n-butyl ether (DNBE) by means of 1-butanol dehydration in the liquid phase on acidic ion-exchange resins. Dehydration experiments were performed at 150 ºC and 40 bar on 13 styrene-codivinylbenzene ion exchangers of different morphology. By comparing 1-butanol conversions to DNBE and initial reaction rates it is concluded that oversulfonated resins are the most active catalysts for 1-butanol dehydration reaction whereas gel-type resins that swell significantly in the reaction medium as well as the macroreticular thermostable resin Amberlyst-70 are the most selective to DNBE. The highest DNBE yield was achieved on Amberlyst 36. The influence of typical 1-butanol impurities on the dehydration reaction were also investigated showing that the presence of 2-methyl-1-propanol (isobutanol) enhances the formation of branched ethers such as 1-(1-methylpropoxy) butane and 1-(2-methylpropoxy) butane, whereas the presence of ethanol and acetone yields ethyl butyl ether and, to a much lesser extent, diethyl ether