H 3PW 12O 40/SiO 2(PW/SiO 2) was prepar ed by the sol-gel method and trimethylolpropane tri-heptanoate(TMH ) was synthes ized by trimethylolpropane(TMP) and heptylic acid(HA) in the presence of H 3PW 12O 40/SiO 2.The results showed that the catalyst with 50%(mass)PW had good activity and stability.The optimal esterification conditions were as f ollows:n TMP∶n HA=1∶4,2%(mass)PW/SiO 2,reaction temperature 120—200 ℃ and 3 h.The structure of TMH was characterized by GC,IR, 1HNMR spectra and the rate of esterification was up to 95%.
