Hydrolysis of methyl acetate using ionic liquids as catalyst and solvent

Abstract Acidic ionic liquids were employed to catalyze the hydrolysis of methyl acetate. The optimal ionic liquid catalyst 1-butylsulfonic-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate ([BSO3HMIm][OTf]) was selected from four Bronsted acidic ionic liquids. The reaction kinetics and chemical equilibrium of hydrolysis reaction catalyzed by [BSO3HMIm][OTf] were investigated. The hydrolysis mechanism catalyzed by [BSO3HMIm][OTf] was proposed, and non-ideal pseudo-homogeneous (NIPH) model was derived based on the hydrolysis mechanism. The hydrolysis reaction with mixed ionic liquids as catalyst and solvent was also conducted. The influence of solvent 1-octyl-2,3-dimethylimidazolium bis((trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl)imide ([OMMIm][Tf2N]) on the reaction rate was investigated. The chemical-phase equilibrium (CPE) was measured to investigate the effects of [BSO3HMIm][OTf] and [OMMIm][Tf2N] on chemical equilibrium and vapor-liquid equilibrium of the reaction mixture. The results show that chemical equilibrium constant is not affected by IL catalyst and solvent, but the vapor-liquid equilibrium is significantly influenced by IL solvent.