Cellulose conversion into alkylglycosides in the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride

The conversion of cellulose into alkylglycosides is carried out in the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride in the presence of an acidic catalyst. Primary alcohols like n-butanol and n-octanol were used as alkylating reagents. The acidic resin Amberlyst 15DRY proved to be the optimum heterogeneous catalyst: it catalyzes the hydrolysis of the beta(1 -> 4) links in the cellulose polymeric chain as well as the alkylation of the hydroxyl groups at the C1 position of the glucose intermediate. The cellulose was fully converted under mild conditions; in a reaction with n-butanol, the obtained yield of butylglucopyranoside isomers was 86%.