Poly(vinyl alcohol) containing sulfonic acid groups as catalytic membranes for esterification of acetic acid by isoamilic alcohol

In this study, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) membranes were prepared using sulfosuccinic acid (SSA) by varying the amount of SSA (5-40 mol%) and were used for the esterification of acetic acid by isoamilic alcohol. The absorption band at 1037 cm-1 in the FTIR spectrum of PVA/SSA20 (PVA membrane containing 20% of –OH groups esterified with SSA) which does not appear in the spectrum of PVA, indicates the presence of the sulfonic acid groups. The conversion of isoamilic alcohol increases when the amount of sulfosuccinic acid used in the polymer crosslinking is increased from 5% to 20%. However, when the crosslinking degree increases from 20% to 40%, the conversion of isoamlic alcohol increases only slightly