Kinetics of the hydrolysis of ethyl acetate catalysed by cation-exchange resin

The mechanism of the hydrolysis of ethyl acetate, catalysed by Dowex 50 W resins, was studied using a batch reactor. The effects of resin cross-linkage and initial reactant ratio on the conversion were investigated. At the high stirring speed used, the film diffusional resistance was found to be insignificant. The results were analysed using the Langmuir-Hinshelwood models. It was found that the irreversible surface reaction between ethyl acetate and water in the adsorbed state (dual site mechanism) was the most plausible rate-controlling step. The rate data were best denoted by the model: where a₁ denotes the activity of the species i.