Facile synthesis of dimethyl succinate via esterification of succinic anhydride over ZnO in methanol

An efficient esterification of succinic anhydride (SA) to dimethyl succinate (DMS) using ZnO in methanol was investigated for the first time. ZnO is commercial, low cost, noncorrosive and environmentally friendly metallic oxide and can promote remarkably the production of DMS from SA in excellent yields with high selectivity. The highest yield of DMS of 100% was achieved at the temperature of 140 °C for 10 h. The results indicated that reaction temperature and time had significant influences on the yield of DMS. Mechanism study found that ZnO was first dissolved to form a Zn species, and then redeposited to ZnO during the reaction, which was crucial for SA conversion. The redeposited ZnO could be reused at least 4 times without the loss of the activity. Moreover, the reaction of ethanol and SA was also effective to give excellent yield at the optimal conditions. The present study demonstrates a promising greener way for the synthesis of DMS from biomass-derived SA.