Linear Alcohols Research Articles

Steps Ahead in Understanding the Catalytic Isomerization Mechanism of Linear Allylic Alcohols in Water: Dynamics, Bonding Analysis, and Crystal Structure of an η2-Allyl-Intermediate

The isomerization of 1-penten-3-ol into 3-pentanone catalyzed by [RuCp(H2O-κO)(PTA)2](CF3SO3) (1CF3SO3) (PTA = 1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane) was studied and two water-soluble ruthenium catalyst reaction intermediates were characterized. The main intermediate, the complex [RuCp(exo-η2-1-penten-3-ol)(PTA)2](CF3SO3)·2H2O (exo-2CF3SO3·2H2O), was isolated and characterized by NMR in solution and by single-crystal X-ray diffraction in the solid state, constituting the first example of a fully characterized complex containing a coordinated η2-allylic alcohol and the first crystal structure for a water-soluble metal complex containing a η2-allyl ligand. NMR and Eyring analysis show the crucial involvement of water molecules both in the transformation of allylic alcohol into a ketone as well as in the concomitant isomerization of the exo-coordinated substrate into the endo-conformer. DFT structure and bonding analyses are used to assess the relative stabilities of the isomers and how the metal drives the electronic distribution on the substrate.

CO hydrogenation over K‐Co‐MoSx catalyst to mixed alcohols: A kinetic analysis

AbstractHigher alcohol synthesis (HAS) from syngas is one of the most promising approaches to produce fuels and chemicals. Our recent investigation on HAS showed that potassium‐promoted cobalt‐molybdenum sulfide is an effective catalyst system. In this study, the intrinsic kinetics of the reaction were studied using this catalyst system under realistic conditions. The study revealed the major oxygenated products are linear alcohols up to butanol and methane is the main hydrocarbon. The higher alcohol products (C3+) followed an Anderson‐Schultz‐Flory distribution while the catalyst suppressed methanol and ethanol formation. The optimum reaction conditions were estimated to be at temperature of 340°C, pressure of 117 bar, gas hourly space velocity of 27 000 mL g–1 h–1 and H2/CO molar feed ratio of 1. A kinetic network has been considered and kinetic parameters were estimated by nonlinear regression of the experimental data. The results indicated an increasing apparent activation energy of alcohols with the length of alcohols except for ethanol. The lower apparent activation energy of alcohols compared with hydrocarbon evidenced the efficiency of this catalyst system to facilitate the formation of higher alcohols.

Toxicity Evaluation of Household Detergents and Surfactants Using Zebrafish

There are concerns regarding the toxicity of household detergents to humans and aquatic organisms. There are various types of surfactants, which are the main components of detergents, and each detergent product has a different formulation. Therefore, high-throughput technologies capable of analyzing a large number of samples rapidly and accurately are required for research on detergent toxicity. In this study, image analysis techniques were used to quantify the locomotor activities from captured images using larval zebrafish (Danio rerio). When the 135-min time-lapse imaging was completed, the damage to the body of the animals was examined using a microscope. Additionally, we determined the animal survival and LC50. Nonionic decyl glucoside (APG-C10), one of the alkyl polyglucosides (APGs), exhibited the lowest toxicity, whereas linear alcohol ethoxylate (LA-9) exhibited the highest toxicity. AOS (α-olefin sulfonate), LAS (linear alkylbenzene sulfonate), and APG-600 showed moderate toxicity between LA-9 and APG-C10. Commercial detergents exhibited various degrees of toxicity, and there was a linear relationship (R2 = 0.776) between locomotor activity and survival percentage of animals.

Combustion of n-C3-C6 Linear Alcohols: An Experimental and Kinetic Modeling Study. Part II: Speciation Measurements in a Jet-Stirred Reactor, Ignition Delay Time Measurements in a Rapid Compression Machine, Model Validation, and Kinetic Analysis.

This work presents new experimental data for n-C3–C6 alcohol, combustion (n-propanol, n-butanol, n-pentanol, n-hexanol). Speciation measurements have been carried out in a jet-stirred reactor (p = 107 kPa, T = 550–1100 K, φ = 0.5, 1.0, 2.0) for n-butanol, n-pentanol, and n-hexanol. Ignition delay times of ethanol, n-propanol, n-butanol, and n-pentanol/air mixtures were measured in a rapid compression machine at φ = 1.0, p = 10 and 30 bar, and T = 704–935 K. The kinetic subsets for alcohol pyrolysis and oxidation from the CRECK kinetic model have been systematically updated to describe the pyrolysis and high- and low-temperature oxidation of this series of fuels as described in Part I of this work (PelucchiM.; NamyslS.; RanziE.Combustion of n-C3–C6 linear alcohol: an experimental and kinetic modeling study. Part I: reaction classes, rate rules, model lumping and validation. Submitted to Energy and Fuels, 2020). Part II describes in detail the facilities used for this systematic experimental investigation of n-C3–C6 alcohol combustion and presents a complete validation of the kinetic model by means of comparisons with the new data and measurements previously reported in the literature for both pyrolytic and oxidative conditions. Kinetic analyses such as rate of production and sensitivity analyses are used to highlight the governing reaction pathways and reasons for existing deviations, motivating possible further improvements in our chemistry mechanism.

Combustion of n-C3-C6 Linear Alcohols: An Experimental and Kinetic Modeling Study. Part I: Reaction Classes, Rate Rules, Model Lumping, and Validation.

This work (and the companion paper, Part II) presents new experimental data for the combustion of n-C3–C6 alcohols (n-propanol, n-butanol, n-pentanol, n-hexanol) and a lumped kinetic model to describe their pyrolysis and oxidation. The kinetic subsets for alcohol pyrolysis and oxidation from the CRECK kinetic model have been systematically updated to describe the pyrolysis and high- and low-temperature oxidation of this series of fuels. Using the reaction class approach, the reference kinetic parameters have been determined based on experimental, theoretical, and kinetic modeling studies previously reported in the literature, providing a consistent set of rate rules that allow easy extension and good predictive capability. The modeling approach is based on the assumption of an alkane-like and alcohol-specific moiety for the alcohol fuel molecules. A thorough review and discussion of the information available in the literature supports the selection of the kinetic parameters that are then applied to the n-C3–C6 alcohol series and extended for further proof to describe n-octanol oxidation. Because of space limitations, the large amount of information, and the comprehensive character of this study, the manuscript has been divided into two parts. Part I describes the kinetic model as well as the lumping techniques and provides a synoptic synthesis of its wide range validation made possible also by newly obtained experimental data. These include speciation measurements performed in a jet-stirred reactor (p = 107 kPa, T = 550–1100 K, φ = 0.5, 1.0, 2.0) for n-butanol, n-pentanol, and n-hexanol and ignition delay times of ethanol, n-propanol, n-butanol, n-pentanol/air mixtures measured in a rapid compression machine at φ = 1.0, p = 10 and 30 bar, and T = 704–935 K. These data are presented and discussed in detail in Part II, together with detailed comparisons with model predictions and a deep kinetic discussion. This work provides new experimental targets that are useful for kinetic model development and validation (Part II), as well as an extensively validated kinetic model (Part I), which also contains subsets of other reference components for real fuels, thus allowing the assessment of combustion properties of new sustainable fuels and fuel mixtures.

Unusual swelling of acrylate based crosslinked polymer networks in linear primary alcohols: Experimental and modeling aspects

The present investigation focuses on analysis of swelling behavior of systems composed of linear primary alcohols and photo-chemically crosslinked poly (butyl prop-2-enoate) (PABu). For this purpose, reactive blends composed of monofunctional (n-ABu) and difunctional (1-prop-2-enoyloxyhexyl prop-2-enoate) monomers as well as a standard photoinitiator were exposed to ultraviolet-visible (UV–vis) irradiation to induce free radical crosslinking polymerization. Experimental swelling studies of the obtained optically transparent PABu networks in methanol, ethanol, propan-1-ol, butan-1-ol, pentan-1-ol, hexan-1-ol and heptan-1-ol were performed by gravimetric sorption measurements. Among the various models available to rationalize the swelling kinetics of these PABu-alcohol systems, the second order approach was found to agree well with the experimental data.In particular it was observed that swelling properties strongly depend on the length of the linear alkyl chain of the primary alcohols. Swelling of PABu network at equilibrium increases from methanol to butan-1-ol where it reaches a maximum and subsequently decreases from butan-1-ol to heptan-1-ol. To understand this unusual behavior, polymer-solvent solubility parameters were considered, which could not account for the swelling maximum detected in the case of butan-1-ol. Molecular simulations performed on model systems composed of a linear primary alcohol molecule set and a reproduced PABu network revealed that their mutual interaction energy times the molar mass of the alcohol show a trend very similar to that of the observed swelling behavior.

Adsorption behavior and application performance of branched aliphatic alcohol polyoxyethylene ether phosphate

Phosphate ester surfactants has been extensively studied in the recent past. However, the information on detailed studies on branched alcohol ether phosphates is only sparsely reported in the literature. To help cover this gap in the research of branched alcohol ether phosphates, in this article, branched alcohol ether phosphates (A13E5P, A10E5P) as the main research object and linear alcohol ether phosphates (A12E5P) as the control group. By measuring the static surface tension (SST), dynamic surface tension (DST) and dynamic contact angle (DCA) of the samples, the adsorption performance of AEP with different hydrophobic structures was studied. Studies have shown that the branching structure strengthens the hydrophobic effect, which brought lower surface tension, higher surface activity, and more excellent wetting properties. And it is found that the change of ionic strength has a greater effect on the branched AEP. In addition, the branched AEP showed better permeability, while linear AEP showed better foam performance, antistatic performance and softness. This paper shows that the branched structure of AEP is beneficial to improve the adsorption performance of the gas-liquid interface, but not to the adsorption of the solid-liquid interface.

Alcohol complexing agents influence bacterial α-cyclodextrin production

Cyclodextrin is widely used in the food industry due to its excellent physicochemical properties. Organic solvents are usually used as complexing agents in the enzymatic production of cyclodextrin. Because they form inclusion complexes with the cyclodextrin products, these solvents reduce product inhibition, change the product (α-, β- and γ-cyclodextrins) ratio and increase the cyclodextrin yield. In this study, the effects of twenty five alcohols, including linear and branched-chain monohydric alcohols and diols, on the yield and cyclodextrin ratio were systematically investigated. The stability of the inclusion complexes formed were also measured and compared. Although almost all of the alcohols increased cyclodextrin yield and many increased α-cyclodextrin selectivity, the effects of linear monohydric alcohols on α-cyclodextrin synthesis were greater than those of the branched-chain monohydric alcohols and diols with similar numbers of carbon atoms. The linear alcohols also showed the best correlation between inclusion complex formation and increased α-cyclodextrin selectivity. This study provides a theoretical basis for the selection of compound agents in producing α-cyclodextrin.

Iridium Complex-Catalyzed C2-Extension of Primary Alcohols with Ethanol via a Hydrogen Autotransfer Reaction.

The development of a C2-extension of primary alcohols with ethanol as the C2 source and catalysis by [Cp*IrCl2]2 (where Cp* = pentamethylcyclopentadiene) is described. This new extension system was used for a range of benzylic alcohol substrates and for aliphatic alcohols with ethanol as an alkyl reagent to generate the corresponding C2-extended linear alcohols. Mechanistic studies of the reaction by means of intermediates and deuterium labeling experiments suggest the reaction is based on hydrogen autotransfer.

Синтетические меротерпеноиды на основе терпеновых спиртов: синтез, самосборка и мембранотропные свойства

Currently, targeted drug delivery is of great interest in the field of medicine. The study of compounds capable of permeating cell membranes is a major problem in this area. The synthesis of pharmacologically active compounds includes the formation of structures with various combinations of pharmacophore fragments and properties. Amphiphilic compounds tend to exhibit membranotropic activity. From this point of view, the modification of natural products, especially terpenoids, is of particular interest. Terpenoid structures are used as membrane anchors in the development of modulators for membrane-integrated proteins or structures for creating nanocontainers. In this paper we synthesized a number of water-soluble amphiphilic meroterpenoids containing a charged pyridinium fragment on the basis of acyclic terpene alcohols. Residue of terpene alcohols – geraniol (monoterpenol), farnesol (sesquiterpenol), and phytol (diterpenol) – were used as the hydrophobic part of the amphiphilic structure. Linear acyclic alcohols are commercially available reagents and have a structure similar to that of polyprenols in archaeal lipids, which made it possible to obtain synthetic lipid-like meroterpenoids capable of self-assembly in aqueous solutions. The charged pyridinium fragment, which is included in numerous natural compounds, was of interest as a polar component. This meroterpenoids are synthetic analogs of archaeal lipids. It was shown that the studied meroterpenoids form nanosized aggregates in aqueous solutions by the method of dynamic light scattering and the Doppler microelectrophoresis method. Turbidimetric titration on model dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine vesicles revealed that the synthesized compounds are embedded into the bilayer membrane without destroying it. Self-assembled aggregates of synthesized compounds in water can find application for drug delivery – in the creation of nanocontainers containing membrane anchors capable of interacting with the outer surface of the cell (lipid membrane).

Chiral amorphous metal-organic polyhedra used as the stationary phase for high-resolution gas chromatography separations.

Herein, we describe a new chiral amorphous metal-organic polyhedra used as the stationary phase for high-resolution gas chromatography (GC). The chiral stationary phase was coated onto a capillary column via a dynamic coating process and investigated for a variety of compounds. The experimental results showed that the chiral stationary phase exhibits good selectivity for linear alkanes, linear alcohols, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, isomers, and chiral compounds. In addition, the column has the advantages of high column efficiency and short analysis time. The present work indicated that amorphous metal-organic polyhedra have great potential for application as a new type of stationary phase for GC.

Effect of pretreatment conditions on acidity and dehydration activity of CeO2-MeOx catalysts

A series of MeOx-modified CeO2 (CeO2-MnOx, CeO2-ZnO, CeO2-MgO, CeO2-CaO, and CeO2-Na2O) catalysts were prepared by the impregnation of CeO2 with corresponding metal nitrates. Acidity and oxidation state of cerium were investigated on both oxidized and reduced catalysts by employing Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) on adsorbed pyridine and in situ H2-Temperature Programmed Reduction/X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (H2-TPR/XAS) techniques, respectively. Metal oxide addition tended to alter both type and number of acid sites on ceria. EXAFS data showed a significant difference in NCe-O between unmodified and CeO2-MeOx, suggesting that added MeOx interferes with vacancy formation on ceria during reduction. In comparison with air-pretreated samples, H2-pretreated ones under similar conversion of 1,5 pentanediol exhibited a higher selectivity towards linear alcohols. Alcohol conversion found to correlate with total acidity (i.e., Brønsted and Lewis). CeO2 benefited from the addition of alkali (Na) or alkaline earth metals (Mg, Ca) by producing unsaturated alcohols.

Kinetics of Alkyl Lactate Formation from the Alcoholysis of Poly(Lactic Acid)

Alkyl lactates are green solvents that are successfully employed in several industries such as pharmaceutical, food and agricultural. They are considered prospective renewable substitutes for petroleum-derived solvents and the opportunity exists to obtain these valuable chemicals from the chemical recycling of waste poly(lactic acid). Alkyl lactates (ethyl lactate, propyl lactate and butyl lactate) were obtained from the catalysed alcoholysis reaction of poly(lactic acid) with the corresponding linear alcohol. Reactions were catalysed by a Zn complex synthesised from an ethylenediamine Schiff base. The reactions were studied in the 50–130 °C range depending on the alcohol, at autogenous pressure. Arrhenius temperature-dependent parameters (activation energies and pre-exponential factors) were estimated for the formation of the lactates. The activation energies (Ea1, Ea2 and Ea−2) for alcoholysis in ethanol were 62.58, 55.61 and 54.11 kJ/mol, respectively. Alcoholysis proceeded fastest in ethanol in comparison to propanol and butanol and reasonable rates can be achieved in temperatures as low as 50 °C. This is a promising reaction that could be used to recycle end-of-life poly(lactic acid) and could help create a circular production economy.

Chemical Characterization of Specific Micropollutants from Textile Industry Effluents in Fez City, Morocco

Textile industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world. It has a high importance in terms of its environment impact, since it consumes a considerably large amount of water and produces highly polluted discharge water. In this work, characterization of toxic organic compounds is proposed. Based on gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC/MS) screening analysis, organic micropollutant diversity of textile effluents from a local textile processing factory was investigated. In the present work, physicochemical characterization of the studied textile effluents showed considerably high values of principal pollution parameters above the prescribed discharge water limits. Heavy metals like zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), and lead (Pb) were found to be present within the permissible limits. The results of GC/MS revealed the presence of various organic compounds belonging to a wide range of chemical classes. Main groups of chemical compounds detected in these effluents were aromatic carboxylic acids, alkanes, aromatic amines, phthalates, aliphatic carboxylic acids, and linear aliphatic alcohols. The results of this study allowed significant contributions to the chemical characterization of textile industry contaminants and identification of indicators that can be considered an important tool for assessment of the potential impact of textile activities to the contamination of aquatic environment and health hazard.

Atomistic insights into the synergistic effects of tensile strain and hydroxyl group on increasing the thermal conductivity of monohydric alcohols as latent heat storage materials

The low thermal conductivity of linear monohydric alcohols significantly limits their performance when used as latent heat storage materials. It was found that imposing certain mechanical strains on nanomaterials with highly ordered structures can lead to appreciable thermal conductivity enhancement. To explore the potential of enhancing the intrinsic thermal conductivity of monohydric alcohols, a simplified ideal crystal model was employed for molecular arrangement in this work. The variation of atomistic heat transfer as a function of tensile strains was exploited by non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations. The influence of stretching on the vibration density of states and the corresponding molecular morphology were revealed. The results suggested that the thermal conductivity of monohydric alcohols with such simplified ideal crystalline structures can increase by about 170 % at the strain of 0.1. The distance between neighboring interfaces was found to determine the energy of inter-molecular interactions at the crystal grain boundaries. The hydrogen bonds energy has not reached the critical value when increasing tensile strains from 0 to 0.1. In contrast, the strongest van der Walls interactions for alkanes were obtained at the strain of 0.06 where the interfacial distances of alkanes have achieved their equilibrium distances. In addition, the interfacial heat transfer coefficient of ideal crystal monohydric alcohols at hydroxyl interfaces was found to be threefold than that between methyl interfaces, in consistent with the strength of inter-molecular interactions between functional groups at the interfaces.

Phytochemical study and anti-oomycete activity of Ageratum conyzoides Linnaeus

Cacao black pod disease caused by most virulent oomycete agent, Phytophthora megakarya is the most damaging disease of Theobroma cacao in Cameroon. The biocontrol method using the extract plants to control the disease is almost inexistent to date. This study aimed to evaluate in vitro and in vivo anti-oomycete activity of the crude ethanolic extract of Ageratum conyzoides L. against Phytophthora megakarya, to identify and characterize some bioactive compounds from it. The inhibition of the mycelia growth of P. megakarya was evaluated by the Agar dilution method at a given concentrations of extract (2, 5, 10, 15 mg mL−1), a negative control treatment (without extract) and Ridomil (lethal dose in the field) used as positive control treatment. All concentrations showed the inhibition of P. megakarya and the highest concentration was obtained at 15 mg mL−1 with maximum inhibition of 38.96% compared to the negative control. Ethanolic extract of Ageratum conyzoides L. significantly (p < 0.0001) reduced the symptom expression of cacao black pod disease as effectively as Ridomil. The phytochemical screening of the crude ethanol extract of A. conyzoides revealed the presence of flavonoids, phenols, alkaloids, coumarins, saponins, tanins, sterols, glycosides and anthraquinons. Moreover, two steroids 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-β-sitosterol, a mixture of β-sitosterol and stigmasterol, and two linear long-chain primary alcohols undecan-1-ol and decan-1-ol were isolated from Ageratum conyzoides. Their structural elucidation was done based on 1D- and 2D-NMR spectroscopy techniques, as well as comparison with previous reports. These secondary metabolites could explain its anti-oomycete activity against P. megakarya, the most virulent pathogen agent of the cacao black pod disease.

Self-organization behavior tuning nanophase separation morphology of sulfonated nonfluoroniated aromatic polymer membrane and its mechanism

Low weight molecules induced self-organization behavior was proposed to tune nanophase separation morphology of sulfonated nonfluoroniated aromatic polymer membrane for improving proton conductivity. Sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) was selected as the model polymer here. Hydrophobic tetrachloroethylene (C2Cl4), amphiphilic circular molecule 3,4-dimethylbenzaldehyde (DMBA) and amphiphilic linear alcohols were adopted to induce the self-organization of SPEEK membranes. The self-organization mechanism was investigated by combined experimental and molecular dynamic simulation for the first time. Induced by hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interaction, the amphiphilic inducers improved both proton conductivity and mechanical properties of SPEEK membranes. Moreover, owing to the effects of multiple hydrogen bonds and linear molecular structure, amphiphilic linear alcohols increased the proton conductivity more significantly than amphiphilic circular molecule DMBA. Among several linear alcohols, the molecular length of n-BuOH (5.0 Å) perfectly matched the distance between hydrogen of the sulfonic acid group and the benzene ring of SPEEK, resulting in the highest proton conductivity. The study provides significant guidance for exploring proton exchange membranes with well-connected proton conductive channel and high proton conductivity.

Elucidating the Role of Bifunctional Cobalt‐Manganese Catalyst Interactions for Higher Alcohol Synthesis

Catalyst promoters are often used to tune or improve performance with little understanding as to how they work. Here we present a fundamental evaluation of cobalt‐manganese interactions in Fischer‐Tropsch (FT) catalysis and evaluate a new bifunctional catalyst for CO dissociation and CO insertion mechanisms. FT has gained considerable attention recently due to the potential to convert bio or municipal waste feeds into commercial fuels and chemicals. Products are commonly highly linear paraffins, but here we show how the role of manganese can tune selectivity for linear olefins and alcohols in a copper, iron and alkali metal free cobalt bifunctional catalyst. These products also have significant commercial value for lubricants, plasticizers, detergents and base chemicals. Advanced catalyst characterization is shown with in situ techniques (XRD, EXAFS, PDF &amp; TEM), while the FT products are fully analysed by NMR, GC and GCxGC. The role of manganese during catalyst synthesis is reviewed while fundamental understanding of the formation of a mixed metal oxide spinel is presented. The Co–Mn interactions change during catalyst reduction, with EXAFS showing cobalt metal and MnO as the main species present.

Characterization of Long Linear and Branched Alkanes and Alcohols for Temperatures up to 573.15 K by Surface Light Scattering and Molecular Dynamics Simulations.

This work contributes to the characterization of long linear and branched alkanes and alcohols via the determination of their thermophysical properties up to temperatures of 573.15 K. For this, experimental techniques including surface light scattering (SLS) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were used under equilibrium conditions to analyze the influences of chain length, branching, and hydroxylation on liquid density, liquid viscosity, and surface tension. For probing these effects, 12 pure model systems given by the linear alkanes n-dodecane, n-hexadecane, n-octacosane, n-triacontane, and n-tetracontane, the linear alcohols 1-dodecanol, 1-hexadecanol, and 1,12-dodecanediol, the branched alkanes 2,2,4,4,6,8,8-heptamethylnonane (HMN) and 2,6,10,15,19,23-hexamethyltetracosane (squalane), and the branched alcohols 2-butyl-1-octanol and 2-hexyl-1-decanol were investigated at or close to saturation conditions at temperatures between 298.15 and 573.15 K. Based on the experimental results for the liquid densities, liquid viscosities, and surface tensions with average expanded uncertainties (k = 2) of 0.061, 2.1, and 2.6%, respectively, the performance of the three commonly employed force fields (FFs) TraPPE, MARTINI, and L-OPLS was assessed in MD simulations. To improve the simulation results for the best-performing all-atom L-OPLS FF at larger temperatures, a modified version was suggested. This incorporates a temperature dependence for the energy parameters of the Lennard-Jones potential obtained by calibrating only against the experimental liquid density data of n-dodecane. By transferring this approach to all other systems studied, the modified L-OPLS FF shows now a distinctly better representation of the equilibrium and transport properties of the long alkanes and alcohols, especially at high temperatures.

Inexpensive and tuneable protic ionic liquids based on sulfuric acid for the biphasic synthesis of alkyl levulinates

Abstract Alkyl levulinates are bio-derived chemicals, increasingly popular for their uses as solvents, additives and intermediates. However, efficient and recyclable catalysts for their synthesis are still the subject of intensive research. In this study, a wide range of alkyl levulinates was synthesized under mild conditions (room temperature, atmospheric pressure), using inexpensive and efficient Bronsted acidic ionic liquids (ILs) based on sulfuric acid and off-the-shelf bases. Acidity of the ILs was closely related to their activity. The ILs could be easy separated and recycled, without significant changes in conversion or selectivity over 10 cycles (yields ca. 90–95%). Under optimized conditions, a 99% yield of pentyl levulinate (model reaction) was achieved. The method was demonstrated to be efficient in the synthesis of levulinates of C1-C16 linear, branched and cyclic alcohols. This innovative, green route to alkyl levulinates fits well within the sustainable development strategy.