Preparation of Butyl Chloride from Butanol and Hydrochloric Acid Using Ionic Liquids as Catalyst*

The catalytic performance of some quaternary ammonium salts for the liquid phase reaction of butanol and hydrochloric acid at different conditions was studied experimentally and compared with the traditional catalyst (ZnCl2). The organic ammonium catalysts investigated include ionic liquids N-butyl-N-methyl imidazolium fluoborate ([BMIM][BF4]) and N-butyl-N-methylimidazolium chloride ([BMIM]Cl) as well as hydrochloric salts of N-methylimidazol ([HMIM]Cl), pyridine ([HPy]Cl) and triethylamine ([HEt3N]Cl). It is shown that the intrinsic catalytic performance of all organic ammonium salts except [HEt3N]Cl is slightly superior to ZnCl2, while the selectivity of butyl chloride is nearly at the same level around 96%. The conversion of butanol increases slightly with temperature and the catalyst amount added while the variation of selectivity is not obvious. Based on the recycle experiments, the ionic liquids as catalyst for the reaction of butanol and hydrochloric acid can be used more than 5 times, which suggests great potential of using ionic liquids as novel catalyst for such reactions.