Melisa Lalikoglu, Erol Ince
2021
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0
Influential Citations
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Citations
Journal
Journal of cosmetic science
Abstract
Benzyl acetate, which has a crucial role in the industry as a flavor and fragrance component, is important for human health to be obtained with a green and clean process. For this purpose, the esterification reaction of acetic acid (AA) and benzyl alcohol (BA) was investigated using five different ionic liquids (ILs) as catalysts. 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate, [EMIM] [HSO4], 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate [EMIM] [BF4], 1-methyl-3-octylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate [OMIM] [BF4], 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis [(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl] imide [EMIM] [NTf2], and 1,3-diethylimidazolium bis [(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl] imide [DEIM] [NTf2] were used as catalysts. The best catalytic performance was obtained with 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate, [EMIM] [HSO4]. The influence of different anions and cations in the IL's structure, the reaction conditions such as initial acid/alcohol ratio, the catalyst amount, the reaction temperature, and the time on conversion were observed. The Box-Behnken experimental design of response surface methodology was applied to estimate the relationship between acid conversion (%) and reaction parameters. According to the model, in all esterification experiments carried out at 110°C, the optimum conditions for maximum conversion were AA:BA molar ratio of 1:1, IL molar ratio of 0.66, and reaction time 4 hours. Under these conditions, 90.34% acid conversion was achieved. [EMIM] [HSO4] can be used for up to three cycles with minimal loss in activity.