Abstract:
Two kinds of Brønsted acid ionic liquids (HnmpHSO
4, HnmpPTSA) were synthesized and characterized; their catalytic activity in the synthesis of poly(oxymethylene) dimethyl ethers (DMM
n,
n > 1) by the condensation of dimethoxy methane (DMM) and paraformaldehyde (PF) were also investigated. The results showed that the catalytic activity of ionic liquid was related to its acidity, HnmpHSO
4 has higher catalytic activity; the optimum reaction conditions were found as HnmpHSO
4 amount of 2.0%(mass fraction), feed mass ratio
m(DMM)/
m(PF) of 2.00, temperature 110℃ and reaction time 6 h, the conversion of DMM and selectivity to DMM
3~8 reached 52.28% and 49.18%, respectively. The ionic liquid HnmpHSO
4 can be naturally separated from product phase and exhibits high stability upon reusage; it still remained highly active even after being reused for five times.