A review of ionic liquids as catalysts for transesterification reactions of biodiesel and glycerol carbonate production

Biodiesel production has been rapidly increasing due to the strong governmental policies and incentives provided leading to an oversupply of its by-product, glycerol. Therefore, finding ways of utilizing glycerol is essential to increase the net energy and sustainability of biodiesel. Ionic liquids have been used successfully as catalyst for both the production of biodiesel and the conversion of glycerol to glycerol carbonate. These catalysts are relatively environmentally friendly as they have the potential to enable sustainable processes. Herein, the prospect of using ionic liquids to catalyze transesterification triglycerides for the production of biodiesel and the conversion of glycerol to glycerol carbonate will be discussed. Elucidation of the reaction mechanism is expected to provide an in-depth understanding of the process with respect to the effects of cation and anion based on the reactions of interest.