Catalytic Synthesis of Benzyl Acetate in Task-Specific Room Temperature Ionic Liquid

A new method of catalytic synthesis of benzyl acetate from acetate acid and benzyl alcohol in task-specific room temperature ionic liquid(TSILs) was studied. Some TSILs with an alkyl sulfonic acid group in a N-methyl imidazlium cation were synthesized for esterification. With 1:1. 3 ratio of benzyl alcohol and acetate acid in TSILs for 2. 5 h at r. t. , the isolated yield reached to 92% and the selectivity was above 99%. The product was immiscible with TSILs and could be separated simply by decantation after the reaction. As environmentally benign dual solvent-catalysts, the TSILs could be reused for several times without noticeable lowering of activity.