Novel porous and hydrophobic POSS-ionic liquid polymeric hybrid as highly efficient solid acid catalyst for synthesis of oleate

• Novel POSS-based solid acidic catalyst is prepared.
• The catalyst shows efficient catalytic activity for esterification reaction.
• The hybrid catalyst gives high conversion and selectivity.
• The catalyst can be easily recovered and reused.

A novel porous and hydrophobic Brønsted acidic solid catalyst (POSS-[VMPS][H2SO4]) was successfully synthesized by copolymerization of polyhedral oligomeric vinylsilsesquioxanes (POSSs) and sulfonic acid-functionalized imidazole ionic liquids. Catalytic tests for the esterification of oleic acid with methanol have shown that this newly obtained polymeric hybrid exhibits very high catalytic activity and selectivity, which was more active or comparable to those of the common solid acid Amberlite-732 and liquid acid H2SO4. Moreover, the catalyst has a good recyclability without significant loss in the activity.

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