Synthesis of immobilized Brønsted acidic ionic liquid on silica gel as heterogeneous catalyst for esterification

The Brønsted acidic ionic liquid 1-(propyl-3-sulfonate) vinylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate ([(CH2)3SO3HVIm]HSO4) was immobilized on the silica gel using tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) as silica source. The properties of samples were characterized by FT-IR, elemental analysis and TG. The results showed that [(CH2)3SO3HVIm]HSO4 had been successfully immobilized onto the silica gel, and the immobilized ionic liquid catalyst (IL/silica gel) had good thermal stability. Moreover, the IL/silica gel exhibited high catalytic activity for a series of esterification and could be separated from the reaction mixture easily. It also remained satisfactory catalytic activity for the synthesis of n-Butyl acetate after 7 times recycling.

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► TEOS was used as silica source.
► Immobilized ionic liquid catalyst was prepared by chemical covalent bond.
► IL/silica gel exhibited high catalytic activity for a series of esterification.
► IL/silica gel exhibited excellent reusability.