Alkylation of benzene and dichloromethane to diphenylmethane with acidic ionic liquids

Liquid-phase alkylation of benzene and dichloromethane as alkylating agent to diphenyhrethane with acidic ionic liquids such as Et(3)NHCl-AlCl(3), Et(3)NHCl-FeCl(3), Et(3)NHCl-ZnCl(2), Et(3)NHCl-CuCl(2), Et(3)NHCl-SnCl(2) and Et(3)NHCl-SnCl(4) was investigated. The results showed that Et(3)NHCl-AlCl(3) proved to be superior catalytic activity to other five ionic liquids with the conversion of 83.8% and the selectivity of 86.3% at a moderate temperature. Meanwhile, the influence of reaction conditions on the reaction, the reaction kinetics and the usability of the catalyst were explored. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.