N-alkylimidazoles are the basic compounds of the widely used imidazolium ionic liquids.  The need for these materials multiplied since the field of ionic liquids is gaining more and more importance. Our aim was to develop a continuous flow method for the N-alkylation of imidazole that provides the alkylated derivatives with high productivity and selectivity, using only cheap, preferably green starting materials.N-alkylation was achieved over a zeolite catalyst using high temperature and pressure in ThalesNano's novel Phoenix Flow Reactor�.  The only chemical the process requires is the solvent-and-reagent alcohol, while the applied catalyst is an aluminosilicate mineral. The catalyst shows excellent longevities, no deactivation was observed in a five-day test. The excess amount of alcohol can be recycled. The method provides yields between 85-99% for the tested primary and secondary alcohols. The reaction is completely selective for the N-monoalkylated product. In our lab, space-time yields up to 11.5 mol/L�h were reached just using a bench-top size flow reactor.

General process for the green and sustainable production of N-alkylimidazoles in flow

248th National Meeting (2014)

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