Synthesis of Nipagin Esters Using Acidic Functional Ionic Liquids as Catalysts

Abstract Several Brønsted acidic functional ionic liquids (FILs) with an alkane sulfonic acid group were synthesized. These FILs as dual solvent-catalysts for Nipagin esterification reactions were investigated. The results indicated that [HSO3-pMIM]HSO4 has the best catalytic activity and recyclability among the various kinds of FILs investigated, and its structure was characterized by infrared and NMR. The [HSO3-pMIM]HSO4 could be easily separated from the reaction mixture and reused without noticeably decreasing the catalytic activity.