Abstract: An environmentallyfriendly plasticizer dioctyl1,2cyclohexane dicarboxylate (DIDCH) was prepared with tetrabutyltitanate as a homogeneous catalyst.The effect of the molar ratio of decanoltoHHPA, amount of catalyst, reaction time and temperature on the esterification rate was studied and the optimum conditions was found as: the molar ratio decanol to HHPA of 2.8∶1, reaction time was 3 h, the reaction temperature was 200 ℃,dosage of catalyst was 1.5 % of the mass of hexahydrophthalic anhydride. The product was a colorless transparent oily liquid, the esterification rate could reach 99.48 %. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and GC-MS were used to determine the structure of DIDCH. When poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) was plasticized with DIDCH, the yellowing time was 60 min, the glass transition temperature (Tg) was -8.91 ℃.

Key words: dioctl-1, 2-cyclohexane dicarboxylate, tetrabutyl titanate, esterification, environment-friendly plasticizer