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Published on: April 12, 2019
Surface-active ionic liquids in catalysis: Impact of structure and concentration on the aerobic oxidation of octanol
Alice Cognigni1, Sebastian Kampichler1, Katharina Bica1
1Institute of Applied Synthetic Chemistry, Vienna University of Technology, Getreidemarkt 9/163, 1060 Vienna, Austria.
Abstract:
We present design and synthesis of surface-active ionic liquids for the application in micellar catalysis. A series of 1-methyl-3-dodecylimidazolium based ionic liquids with variable core structures including dicationic and zwitterionic ones was synthesized and characterized. These surface-active ionic liquids where applied in the aerobic oxidation of aliphatic alcohols to carbonyl compounds. A strong dependence on the ionic liquid concentration and structure was identified, which is in accordance with the concepts of micellar catalysis. Optimum conditions for the oxidation of 1-octanol could be identified, and the use of surface-active ionic liquids strongly improved the reaction performance compared to pure water. Under optimized conditions, it was possible to isolate up to 75% of octanoic acid using only small amounts of surface-active ionic liquid in a 0.05mM solution in water without further ligands.
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