Design of a highly active silver-exchanged phosphotungstic acid catalyst for glycerol esterification with acetic acid.

Highlights: [•] Ag1PW presented the best activity for glycerol esterification with acetic acid. [•] The TON of Ag1PW was up to 2189.9h−1. [•] Ag-exchanged HPW exhibited outstanding water-tolerant property. [•] A mechanistic scheme for glycerol esterification with acetic acid was proposed. [•] Ag1PW catalyst did not suffer from deactivation in five consecutive reaction tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]