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Download fileSynthesis of Tetrabutylphosphonium Carboxylate Ionic Liquids and Its Catalytic Activities for the Alcoholysis Reaction of Propylene Oxide
journal contribution
posted on 2013-12-04, 00:00 authored by Duan-Jian Tao, Fan Ouyang, Zhang-Min Li, Na Hu, Zhen Yang, Xiang-Shu ChenFour tetrabutylphosphonium carboxylate
ionic liquids ([P4444][CA]) were prepared, characterized,
and used as catalysts for the synthesis of propylene glycol methyl
ether (PGME) from the alcoholysis reaction of propylene oxide (PO)
with methanol. The effects of various parameters such as the kind
of ILs, temperature, reaction time, catalyst loading, and molar ratio
of the reactants on PGME yield and selectivity were also studied in
detail. The results indicated that tetrabutylphosphonium butyrate
([P4444][Buty]) exhibited the best catalytic activity in
comparison to three other carboxylate ILs, and PGME was produced
in nearly 94% yield under mild conditions. In addition, [P4444][Buty] was found to exhibit good catalytic activities and selectivities
in other alcoholysis reactions of epoxides with various alcohols,
such as PO with n-propanol, PO with n-butanol, 1-(allyloxy)-2,3-epoxypropane with methanol, and 1,2-epoxybutane
with methanol. [P4444][Buty] could also be recovered easily
and used repetitively at least 10 times without an obvious decrease
in activity and quantity. Therefore, [P4444][Buty] proved
to be an effective recyclable homogeneous catalyst for the synthesis
of PGME and showed potential application in industry.