eng Science and Education Publishing World Journal of Chemical Education 2375-1657 2022-02-27 10 1 46 50 10.12691/wjce-10-1-6 WJCE20221016 article Weiqian Liao 1 Wushuang Lou 1 Weihua Jin 1 Shikun Li 1 Hui Mao 1 Yihui Bai baiyihui@zjnu.cn 1 Department of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China To explore a greener and safer experimental preparation method for di-n-butyl ether, a modification to the preparation of di-n-butyl ether from 1-butanol was used in this study by replacing the traditional concentrated sulfuric acid as the catalyst with p-toluenesulfonic acid under the guidance of computational calculations. The effects of reaction temperature, catalyst quantity, and other parameters on the reaction were investigated. The catalyst's recovery and reuse were explored. The results reveal that p-toluenesulfonic acid has a catalytic efficiency comparable to that of concentrated sulfuric acid in this experiment, that it is safer and easier to operate, and that it can be recovered and reused using simple procedures, which meets the requirements of green chemistry. The findings of this study may be utilized to enhance the di-n-butyl ether preparation experiment, which can be used in the Organic Chemistry Laboratory course at colleges. http://pubs.sciepub.com/wjce/10/1/6/wjce-10-1-6.pdf experimental modification preparation di-n-dibutyl ether p-toluenesulfonic acid green chemistry