Michael addition kinetics of ethyl acetoacetate and 2-ethylhexyl acrylate in ionic liquids

The Michael addition is one of the most common and versatile methods for making carbon–carbon bonds, however little is known about the potential of utilizing ionic liquids as solvents in these reactions. Initial work from our laboratory is presented, showing that model imidazolium- and phosphonium-based ionic liquid solvents can be used as effective reaction media in the Michael addition. Kinetic data are also reported and the results indicate that the use of ionic liquids as reaction media resulted in an observed rate enhancement when compared with more common organic solvents such as toluene, THF, and DMF. Observed rates were comparable to those observed in DMSO.