An efficient method was investigated for the synthesis of 3‐pentadecylphenyl acrylate (PDPA) via one‐pot reaction of esterification in the presence of an ionic liquid as catalyst. In order to understand the esterification reaction process, a mathematical relationship between the yield of esterification and the process variables was established by employing central composite design. The maximum yield of esterification of 3‐pentadecylphenol (PDP) and acryloyl chloride (AC) catalyzed by imidazole ionic liquid was found to be 85 %. A statistical model predicted that the highest esterification reaction yield would be > 88 % under optimized reaction conditions. The predicted values for optimum process conditions thus obtained were in agreement with the experimental values, thereby indicating the suitability of the model.