Butyl acetate synthesis via reactive distillation

Methyl acetate transesterifies with n-butanol over the reactive stages of a column into butyl acetate (a common paint/coatings solvent) and methanol, which is pulled overhead as it forms while high-boiling butyl acetate collects in the bottoms. The light reactant (methyl acetate) enters low in the reactive zone and rises through it, the heavy one (n-butanol) enters high and falls through it, so the two meet on the trays between: fed the other way round each leaves by its nearer end before it meets the other, and the column converts under a third of the methyl acetate. Luyben et al., Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2011, 50, 1247.