N-butyl oleate catalyzed- synthesized by triethylamine citrate lonic liquid

Abstract Ionic liquids have many unique physical and chemical properties and are attracting more and more attention. They are considered to be a new type of green solvent that can replace traditional organic solvents and are environmentally friendly. They have attractive application prospects in many fields. The triethylamine citrate ionic liquid was used as a catalyst to catalyze-esterificate-synthesis n-butyl oleate with oleic acid and n-butanol. Research on the preparation, optimization and the reacted process of n-butyl oleate of the new catalyst were conducted. Experimental analysis shows triethylamine and citric acid reacted under certain conditions achieved the preparations of the catalyst(triethylamine citrate: citric acid=3.5:1, 1h, 40 °C), and then n-butanol oleate was synthesized according with follows conditions(oleic acid: n-butanol=1:1, 3h, 140°C, catalyst dosage:10%), the esterified rate was reached about 60%. In contrast, the reacted conditions of preparing catalyst followed that (triethylamine citrate: citric acid=3:1, 1h, 8°C), and then n-butanol oleate was synthesized according with follows conditions(oleic acid : n-butanol=1:1, 3h, 140°C, catalyst dosage:10%), the esterified rate was reached above 92%. Meanwhile, the new catalyst of triethylamine citrate ionic liquid can be recycled, zero pollution, simple production process, high catalytic yield, can avoid effectively strong corrosion from catalyst to devices, not easy to save and high volatility etc. unfavorable factors and based on above esterification rate of n-butyl oleate was improved effectively. Due to the unique properties of ionic liquids, it is widely used in various fields of chemical research. Ionic liquids have been used as reaction solvents in many types of reactions.