Ionic Liquid Mediated Aluminium Sulfate: Highly Effective Catalyst for Synthesis of the Acetalization Reaction

Abstract

The acetalization reaction of ethyl acetoacetate (EAA) with 1,2-propanediol (PPO) was performed efficiently in ionic liquid using aluminium sulfate as catalyst. The synergistic effect between aluminium sulphate and ionic liquid [bmim]BF4 on the acetalization was observed. An EAA conversion of 89.6% with the fructone selectivity of above 99.0% was achieved under the optimized reaction conditions. After the reaction was completed, the products could be easily separated from the reaction mixture extracted by dimethyl ether, and the catalyst and ionic liquid could be directly recycled several times without a significant decrease in the activity and selectivity towards fructone.