A water-tolerant solid acid, Cs2.5H0.5PW12O40, for hydrolysis of esters in water Original Research Article

Hydrolysis of esters in large excess water catalyzed by various solid and liquid acids has been studied. It was found that a solid Cs2.5H0.5PW12O40 was remarkably active for the hydrolysis of 2-methylphenylacetate in excess water, while other inorganic solid acids like H-ZSM-5, Nb2O5, orSO42−/ZrO2, were almost inactive. In addition, only the solution after the removal of the solid did not show any activity, and the activity of Cs2.5H0.5PW12O40 remained almost unchanged after it was treated in water (353 K) for 72 h.