LAUSR

Abstract The carbonylation of dimethyl ether (DME) to methyl acetate (MA) is a vital step in a direct route of ethanol production from syngas. Heteropoly acids (HPAs) as a kind of solid acid catalysts can facilitate the reaction. To improve the accessibility of Bronsted acid sites, we prepared a series of supported HPAs catalysts by wetness impregnation on SBA-15. The impact of the HPAs loading and composition on the textural structure and acidic properties was investigated by comparing with the bulk HPAs. Taking acidity analysis (Pyridine-IR and TPD) and catalytic measurement results, we explored the effect of the amount and strength of Bronsted acid site on this reaction. The observations demonstrated that more and stronger acid sites are prone to MA formation.