The synthesis of chloropropylated MCM-41 through co-condensation technique: The path finding process Original Research Article

In this study, ionic liquids (ILs) on ordered mesoporous materials were prepared and their catalytic performance in the chemical fixation of CO2 with epoxide to produce cyclic carbonate was investigated. The ionic liquids were generated on chloropropyl functionalized MCM-41 (CP-MS41) through the immobilization of trialkylamines. The first step involved simple condensation under basic conditions yielding CP-MS41, which lead sequentially to R4Cl-MS41. A variety of CP-MS41s were synthesized by manipulating the TEOS to 3-chloropropyltriethoxysilane (ClPTES) ratio, and characterized using a number of physico-chemical measurements including XRD, BET, FT-IR, CP 13C, 29Si MAS-NMR and TG/DTG. 29Si MAS-NMR and FT-IR showed that the ionic liquids formed adduct with the chloropropyl groups attached to the silica surface. The ordering of the mesoporous structure decreased gradually with increasing ClPTES concentration in the synthesis gel. This study reports a methodology for synthesizing hybrid MS41 and solvent extraction techniques. The activity of the immobilized ionic liquids (IILs) was maintained after recycling and was higher in the IILs containing amines with a lower alkyl chain length.