Eco-Friendly Ethyl Acetate/Acetic Ether Production in China for Multiple Industries

Physical Properties
Appearance: colourless transparent liquid
Aroma: strong ether-like odour, clear, slightly fruity wine aroma, easy to spread, not persistent
Melting point: -83 ºC to -84 ºC (different information slightly different)
Boiling point: 76.5°C to 77.5°C (also 77.06°C in some sources)
Density: 0.902 g/cm³ (also 0.9003 g/cm³ or other similar values in some sources)
Refractive index: 1.372 (20 ºC) (also available as 1.3723 or similar values)
Flashpoint: -4°C (closed cup), 7.2°C (open cup)
Solubility: slightly soluble in water, soluble in ethanol, acetone, ether, chloroform, benzene and other most organic solvents
Third, chemical properties
Ethyl acetate can occur in alcoholysis, ammonolysis, ester exchange, reduction and other common reactions of general esters.
In the presence of sodium metal, ethyl acetate can condense by itself to produce 3-hydroxy-2-butanone or ethyl acetoacetate.
Reaction with Grignard's reagent produces a ketone, and further reaction gives a tertiary alcohol.
Ethyl acetate is relatively stable to heat and remains unchanged when heated at 290°C for 810 hours. However, decomposition reactions occur at higher temperatures or by means of certain catalysts, such as red-hot iron pipes, zinc powder heated to 300350°C, or dehydrated aluminium oxide.
Ethyl acetate is readily hydrolysed, and in the presence of water at room temperature it is gradually hydrolysed to form acetic acid and ethanol. Adding trace amounts of acid or alkali can promote the hydrolysis reaction, and alkaline hydrolysis is irreversible.
Preparation method
Direct esterification method: take acetic acid and ethanol as raw materials, sulfuric acid as catalyst for direct esterification of ethyl acetate, and then dehydrate, fractionate and refine to the finished product. This is the main process route for domestic industrial production of ethyl acetate.
Acetaldehyde condensation method: take alkyl aluminium as catalyst, condense acetaldehyde to produce ethyl acetate. Most of the foreign industrial production adopts this process.
Other methods: ethyl acetate can also be produced by acetic acid, ethyl anhydride or vinyl ketone and ethanol reaction; can also be catalyzed by ethanol aluminium, two molecules of acetaldehyde reaction. In addition, the industrial oxidation of acetic acid from butane is also a by-product of ethyl acetate.
V. Uses
Organic chemical industry: as an important organic chemical material and industrial solvent, it is used in the production process of acetate fibre, ethyl fibre, chlorinated rubber, vinyl resin, vinyl fibre ester, synthetic rubber, paint and lacquer.
Flavours and fragrances: It is used as the main raw material for fruit flavours such as pineapple, banana, strawberry and spices such as whisky, cream, etc. It can also be used in the blending of white wine and the manufacture of artificial flavours.
Medicine: as an extracting agent, used in the production of pharmaceutical products.
Others: It can also be used as cleaning agent in textile industry and extracting agent of natural spices, as well as in the fields of environmental protection and pesticide residue analysis.

Product specifications