Applied Catalysis A: General, Vol.404, No.1-2, 87-92, 2011
Ionic liquids as benign catalysts for the carbonylation of amines to formamides
1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium hydrogen carbonate ([BMIm][HCO3]), prepared from the reaction of [BMIm]Cl with K2CO3 in methanol, exhibits high activity for the carbonylation of amines to produce formamides. Computational calculation results on the carbonylation reaction of methylamine implies that such high activity of [BMIm][HCO3] could be ascribed to the bi-functional actions of [HCO3](-) as a hydrogen atom acceptor and a donor. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.