Cerium oxide-based nanostructures as efficient catalysts for transesterification of methylacetate with n-butanol

CeO2-based nano materials have earned a great amount of interest in the field of catalysis because of excellent thermal stability and oxygen storage capacity. Cerium based mixed oxides prepared by coprecipitation method is used as heterogeneous catalysts in order to develop an effective catalyst with high activity and durability for the transesterification of methylacetate to butylacetate. Among the doped cerium oxide catalysts, vanadium doped ones showed maximum conversion with butylacetate selectivity around 76.0%. Reusability studies indicate that conversion percentage decreases on repeated uses whereas product selectivity remains more or less the same after each reuse. The decrease in catalytic activity was attributed to pore blocking of the active site as indicated by surface area and pore volume measurements.