Synthesis of methyl salicylate over mesoporous aluminosilicate materials

 Different from the traditional synthesis of methyl salicylate, the synthesis of methyl salicylate (MS) from salicylic acid (SA) and dimethyl carbonate (DMC) was carried out. The catalysts were a series of mesoporous aluminosilicate with different Si/Al mol ratio. The results showed that DMC was a good esterifying agent and mesoporous aluminosilicate was an effective catalyst for this esterification reaction. SA conversion and MS selectivity could reach 98.6% and 77.0% under suitable reaction condition. It was also found that both SA conversion and MS selectivity were closely related with Lewis acidity of the catalysts. In addition, the synergistic mechanism was proposed for the esterification of SA with DMC over mesoporous aluminosilicate.