Acetalization of carbonyl compounds catalyzed by acidic ionic liquid immobilized on silica gel

Imidazolium-silica heterogeneous catalyst (SG-[(CH2)3SO3H-HIM]HSO4) was prepared by immobilization of acidic ionic liquid 1-(propyl-3-sulfonate) imidazolium hydrosulfate ([(CH2)3SO3H-HIM]HSO4) on silica–gel using tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) as silica source in this study. The properties of the samples were characterized by FT-IR, SEM and TG/DSC. The results suggested that [(CH2)3SO3H-HIM]HSO4 had been successfully immobilized on the surface of silica–gel and the immobilized ionic liquid catalyst SG-[(CH2)3SO3H-HIM]HSO4 had good thermal stability. The original smooth surface of silica–gel was covered with [(CH2)3SO3H-HIM]HSO4 and a rough surface of SG-[(CH2)3SO3H-HIM]HSO4 was formed, but the size of particles had no obvious change. Moreover, SG-[(CH2)3SO3H-HIM]HSO4 exhibited high catalytic activity for a series of acetalization and could be recovered easily. After reused for 10 times in the synthesis of benzaldehyde ethanediol acetal, the catalyst could still give satisfactory catalytic activity.