Abstract
The epoxidation of alpha, beta-unsaturated esters, namely, diethyl fumarate and methyl crotonate, has been carried out with hydrogen peroxide in aqueous medium using phosphotungstic acid as a catalyst. The kinetics of the reaction was studied under pseudoconditions keeping ester concentration in excess. The results showed first order dependence of epoxidation rate on each of substrate and catalyst while it showed zero order dependency on H2O2 concentration. The epoxidation rate of methyl crotonate was almost twice of that of diethyl fumarate. The effect of temperature, ionic strength, and pH has also been studied. A probable ionic mechanism for epoxidation is proposed.