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In this work, the production of tributyl citrate via catalytic and self-catalyzed esterification of citric acid with 1-butanol was studied. Both, methanesulfonic acid (MSA) and Amberlyst 70 ion-exchange resin were evaluated as catalysts in the reaction. The kinetic effects of the temperature (353–393 K), the feed molar ratio of alcohol to acid (8:1 to 16:1), and catalyst loadings (0.5–1.5 wt % of MSA, and the equivalent amount of Amberlyst 70) were evaluated. Experiments were carried out using stirred batch reactors under isothermal operation. A Box–Behnken design was used to optimize the number of experiments required to obtain a valid kinetic model. Chemical equilibrium conditions were evaluated independently from kinetic experiments, reducing the number of parameters to adjust during data regression. Self-catalytic rate of reaction was also evaluated, and it was included within the overall kinetic model. The obtained models show good agreement with experiments, and they can be used for process analysis and simulation.

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This work focused on the development of the phase equilibria models required to describe the behavior of mixtures involved in the synthesis of tributyl citrate (TBC) via esterification of citric acid (CA) and butan-1-ol (BuOH). Vapor−liquid equilibrium (VLE) for the mixture TBC−BuOH, liquid−liquid equilibrium (LLE) for the ternary mixture TBC− H 2 O−BuOH, and solubility data for the mixture CA−BuOH−TBC were measured at different temperatures. The thermodynamic consistency was verified with the Wisniak test for VLE data, and the LLE data exhibited linear behavior in an Othmer and Tobias plot. Anhydrous citric acid was characterized by differential scanning calorimetry exhibiting a melting point of 424.9 K, an enthalpy of fusion of 59.2 kJ/mol, an average heat capacity of 255.48 J/mol•K in the evaluated temperature range (320−375 K), and a change of heat capacity from solid to liquid of 236 J/mol•K. Together with reported equilibrium data from the open literature, and the evaluated physicochemical properties, the measured equilibrium data were regressed with the UNIQUAC equation to fit the binary interaction parameters of the components in the mixture. The obtained model agrees well with the whole set of experimental data and can be used for further process design.