Study on the Preparation of Maleic Acid Ester with Organic Base Catalyst

[Objective] To prepare maleic acid ester with tapioca starch.[Method] Maleic acid ester was prepared after the tapioca starch was activated,with maleic anhydride as agent,acetone as solvent,and pyridine as catalyst.The preparation conditions of maleic acid ester were optimized by single-factor test.[Result] The best preparation conditions of maleic acid ester were:1g activated tapioca starch,50 ℃reaction temperature,1∶ 3 molar ratio of activated starch to maleic anhydride,1 ml pyridine and 7 h reaction time.[Conclusion] By adopting the best preparation conditions,the degree of substitution for maleic acid ester was 0.332.