Ionic liquids as benign catalysts for the carbonylation of amines to formamides

1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium hydrogen carbonate ([BMIm][HCO3]), prepared from the reaction of [BMIm]Cl with K2CO3 in methanol, exhibits high activity for the carbonylation of amines to produce formamides.Computational calculation results on the carbonylation reaction of methylamine implies that such high activity of [BMIm][HCO3] could be ascribed to the bi-functional actions of [HCO3]− as a hydrogen atom acceptor and a donor.

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► Synthesis of imidazolium-based ionic liquids (ILs) bearing a bicarbonate anion.
► ILs as benign catalysts for the carbonylation of amines to produce formamides.
► Mechanistic investigation on the bi-functional roles of bicarbonate anion.