Ricerc@Sapienza

1-Methyl-3-butylimidazolium ionic liquids BMImX (X anions: Ac−, HCO3−, Cl−, BF4−, PF6−, I−, CF3CO2−, (CF3SO2)2N−, CF3SO3−) were used as catalysts in the Knoevenagel condensation reaction. The catalytic activity was compared with that of the inorganic salts NaAc, NaHCO3, NaCl. Whereas it is quite important to select suitable cation and anion depending on the purpose, the basicity of the anion X−and the ability of the counter-ion BMIm+to avoid the ion pairing with anion X−was investigated.

Benzo-15-crown-5 ether supported on multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) by tethered poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers efficiently coordinated methyltrioxorhenium in the selective oxidation of olefins to epoxides. Environmentally friendly hydrogen peroxide was used as a primary oxidant. Up to first and second generation dendrimer aggregates were prepared by applying a divergent PAMAM methodology. FT-IR, XRD and ICP-MS analyses confirmed the effective coordination of methyltrioxorhenium by the benzo-15-crown-5 ether moiety after immobilization on MWCNTs.