Heteropolyanion‐Based Ionic Liquids: Reaction‐Induced Self‐Separation Catalysts for Esterification

Abstract

It comes out in the wash: In the esterification of citric acid with n-butanol, heteropolyanion-based ionic liquid (IL) catalysts show high catalytic activity, self-separation, and easy reuse. The good solubility in reactants, nonmiscibility with ester product, and high melting point of the IL catalysts enable the reaction-induced switching from homogeneous (b in the picture) to heterogeneous (c) with subsequent precipitation of the catalyst (d). Detailed facts of importance to specialist readers are published as ”Supporting Information”. Such documents are peer-reviewed, but not copy-edited or typeset. They are made available as submitted by the authors. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.