H3PW12O40/SiO2(PW/SiO2) was prepared by the sol-gel method and trimethylolpropane tri-heptanoate(TMH ) was synthesized by trimethylolpropane(TMP) and heptylic acid(HA) in the presence of H3PW12O40/SiO2.The results showed that the catalyst with 50%(mass)PW had good activity and stability.The optimal esterification conditions were as follows:nTMP∶nHA=1∶4
2%(mass)PW/SiO2
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%.