Microreactor technology for synthesis of ethyl methyl oxalate from diethyl oxalate with methanol and its kinectics

This study focused on the performances and kinetics of the transesterification reaction of diethyl oxalate with methanol to prepare ethyl methyl oxalate via microreactor technology. The conversion of 79.8% of diethyl oxalate (DEO) and the selectivity of 65.9% of ethyl methyl oxalate (EMO) was obtained under the following optimized conditions: the mole ratio of methanol to diethyl oxalate was 3.3:1, the temperature was 35°C, the K₂CO₃ catalyst concentration was 15 mg/mL, and the residence time was 2.30 minutes. In the temperature range of 25°C to 38°C, the simplified dynamic model was found to obtain the reaction order (α = 2.30), frequency factor (k₀ = 2.377 × 10⁵), and apparent activation energy (E = 31.86 kJ/mol). The macroscopic dynamic equation was derived from the experimental result of the transesterification reaction of two feedstocks, which can be obtained through a series of calculations.