Synthesis of Layered Disodium (or Dipotassium) Tetrakis-(octanoate-o)-Zinc(II) and Preliminary Investigation of the Catalytic Activity in the Esterification of Octanoic Acid with Isopropanol

This paper reports the synthesis of layered zinc/sodium and zinc/potassium octanoates (A 2 [Zn(C 8 H 15 O 2 ) 4 ], A = Na + or K + ), two underexplored carboxylates, through reaction of the octanoate of the desired alkali metal with a zinc salt. After drying and chemical characterization, their catalytic activities were tested in the esterification of octanoic acid with isopropanol. Conversion values were high for the reactions conducted under following conditions: temperature 155°C, isopropanol/octanoic acid molar ratio = 8: 1, catalyst/ octanoic acid ratio 7 wt %, and reaction time 2 h. Isolation of the catalysts after esterification showed that the materials were converted into zinc octanoate in situ.