A Central Composite Design (CCD) was employed to study the
effects of three influencing factors. From ANOVA analysis, amount
of catalyst was found to have the greatest effect on the response,
with the highest F value of 447.54. While both the molar ratio
and reaction time exhibited less effect regarding the same. The
optimum conditions of molar ratio 12:1, catalyst loading 3 wt%
and reaction time 1.8 h were evaluated at the reaction temperature
of 65 C.