Oxidative carbonylation of methanol over copper ion-containing ionic liquids immobilized on SBA-15

A new catalyst of copper ion-containing ionic liquids immobilized on SBA-15 was prepared and characterized by XRD, HRTEM, N2 physical adsorption, FTIR, elemental analysis, TGA, AA, and XPS. The CuBr2–PyIL/SBA-15 catalyst was found to be more active and selective than CuBr2 and CuBr2/SBA-15 prepared by the conventional impregnation method in the synthesis of dimethyl carbonate by oxidative carbonylation of methanol. Although the CuBr2–PyIL/SBA-15 catalyst deactivated rapidly during the initial three runs, it still maintained a comparable activity with the fresh CuBr2/SBA-15 catalyst after three recycling.