Supported ionic liquid catalysts—From batch to continuous operation in preparation of fine chemicals

The use of ionic liquids in catalysis is attracting ever more attention in chemical engineering. In line with this research we have studied supported ionic liquid catalysts (SILCAs) which consist of immobilized catalytic species, e.g., transition metal particles residing in an ionic liquid layer immobilized on a solid support, in batch mode operations. In this study the same concept was successfully applied in continuous mode applying a three-phase structured reactor in the hydrogenation of citral.