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Updated: Jun 6, 2026

Synthesis of Esters Via a Greener Steglich Esterification in Acetonitrile
Published on: October 30, 2018
Using more environmentally friendly solvents and benign catalysts in performing conventional organic reactions
Brindaban C Ranu1, Amit Saha, Raju Dey
1Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Department of Organic Chemistry, Jadavpur, Kolkata 700032, India. ocbcr@iacs.res.in
Abstract:
The protection of the environment from toxic materials is an area of increasing concern. This review describes selected chemical processes that use more environmentally friendly solvents and less toxic catalysts. For example, water, ionic liquids and supercritical fluids have demonstrated promising activity as alternative benign reaction media for various reactions. The advantages of neat reactions in the absence of any solvent and the use of fluorous compounds as phase-separable catalysts are also described.
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