Novel and Efficient Knoevenagel Condensation over Mesoporous SBA‐15 Supported Acetate‐functionalized Basic Ionic Liquid Catalyst

Abstract A type of multifunctional mesoporous SBA‐15 supported imidazolium ionic liquids SBA‐15@IL‐OAc have been designed and synthesized, characterized and tested as heterogeneous catalysts in the Knoevenagel condensation. The prepared catalysts exhibit good catalytic performances in the reaction at room temperature, especially the supported ionic liquid SBA‐15@IL‐OAc(0.8) with excellent yields of 90∼98 %, probably due to the synergetic effect between acetate anion sites of imidazolium ionic liquid and hydroxyl active sites of SBA‐15. In addition, the recyclability of the heterogeneous catalyst was tested, and the cycle test showed that the catalyst could be reused five times without significantly reducing the catalytic activity.