Influence of FeCl<sub>3</sub>‐modified chloroaluminate ionic liquids on long‐chain alkenes alkylation
Xiaoli Sheng, Beibei Wang, Chunfeng Mao, Xiao Sha, Yuming Zhou
Abstract
The influence of anhydrous ferric chloride on the catalytic properties of chloroaluminate ionic liquids catalyst for Friedel–Crafts alkylation was investigated. The catalysts were characterized by Fourier‐transform infrared (FT‐IR) (acetonitrile molecule as probe), specific gravity, and 27 Al NMR. Besides, the effect of the mass ratio of FeCl 3 to AlCl 3 , catalysts dosage, toluene/olefin molar ratio, reaction temperature, and reaction time on long‐chain alkenes alkylation were investigated thoroughly. And bromine value and high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) were employed as the evaluation method for alkylation products. It was observed that the addition of anhydrous ferric chloride results in improvement in terms of Lewis acid and its catalytic recyclability. Among these catalysts studied, the catalyst modified with 1.0 wt.% anhydrous FeCl 3 showed the best catalytic performance in terms of yield and stability, which can be attributed to the formation of new stronger acidic ions [Al 2 FeCl l0 ] − when the added ferric chloride reacts with acidic ions [Al 2 Cl 7 ] − .