Article,
Detailed kinetic study of cumene isopropylation in a liquid-liquid biphasic system using acidic chloroaluminate ionic liquids
JOURNAL OF CATALYSIS, 258 (2): 401-409 (September 2008)
DOI: {10.1016/j.jcat.2008.06.018}
Abstract
A kinetic study of cumene isopropylation has been carried out using the
acidic ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride
(EMIMCl)/AlCl3 (molar ratio 1:2) as the catalyst phase in a
semi-batch liquid-liquid biphasic reaction system. Kinetic models
representing the alkylation reaction network have been established
based on reaction temperature and propylene partial pressure
variations. By comparing the results of the kinetic models with the
measured concentrations in the liquid organic phase, the importance of
the different product solubilities in the acidic ionic liquid became
evident. Correction of the product concentrations in the organic phase
based on a COSMO-RS calculation of the relative product solubilities in
the acidic ionic liquid EMIMAl2Cl7 gave a remarkably good
prediction of the reaction kinetics by the kinetic model. These
findings demonstrate the suitability of COSMO-RS to predict the
relative solubilities of different aromatic compounds in highly
reactive catalytic systems. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
