Alkaline ILs Supported onto Mesoporous Polymeric 3D Spheres for Catalytic Synthesizing Dimethyl Carbonate in Transesterification

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AbstractA novel type of alkyl amine‐based ILs [Et3N]+[OH]− (triethylammonium hydroxide) behaving strong alkali property have been chemically immobilized onto the polymeric 3D spheres with mesoporous structures, spherical morphology and more uniformed active species onto them to form alkali ILs supported 3D polymeric catalysts(3DPs‐ILsOH), which was synthesized via a combined method of substitution with its subsequent anion unites’ exchanging process. The supported 3DPs‐ILsOH catalyzed the transesterification of ethylene carbonate (EC) with methanol, which preferred to exhibit the excellent, efficient activities. At milder reaction temperature of 70 °C within 4.0 h, the conversion of EC achieved to 83.3 % with 99.5 % selectivity of dimethyl carbonate (DMC). Under the same reaction conditions, this type of catalysts could be recovered by a simple filtration and was reused eight times without obvious losing catalytic activities and hardly without any leaching of catalytic species. Its’ catalytic process for generating the chemical of DMC from the CO2 fixation material of EC was studied by using the in‐situ FTIR, and was further verified that the synergetic function roles of triethyl amino cations units with OH− anion units onto the supported catalysts might be one of the important reasons for progressing DMC's yields and its’ catalytic efficiency in transesterification reaction.