Production of tertiary butyl acetate

This invention relates to the production of esters and in particular to the production t-butyl acetate. Disclosed is a process for the production of t-butyl acetate and coproduction of methyl acetate or ethyl acetate, directly from MTBE or ETBE, by contacting a mixture of acetic acid, acetic anhydride, and MTBE, or alternatively, ETBE, with an acid catalyst. Unlike the art, disclosed is a route employing a tert-butyl ether as starting material for the desired production or coproduction of tert-butyl acetate. Also unlike the art, acetic anhydride is employed to react with the water of formation from the esterification reaction to control formation of t-butyl alcohol.