Comprehensive studies on the n-hexyl acetate synthesis by heterogeneously catalyzed reactive distillation are presented. Reactive distillation experiments were carried out both in laboratory and semi-industrial scale with different catalytic packings. Several variants of a basic column set-up and the influence of the most important process parameters were studied. Additionally, phase and chemical equilibria and reaction kinetics were measured. Predictions from stage models of different complexity are compared to the results of experiments. It is shown, that, based on a sound knowledge on reaction kinetics and thermodynamic properties it is possible to successfully describe the studied reactive distillation process. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.