Combining AlCl3·6H2O and an ionic liquid to prepare chlorohydrin esters from glycerol

Abstract

We describe here the first example in which glycerol has been transformed into chlorohydrin esters using an ionic liquid and hydrated aluminium chloride. The method avoids using Crown-18 ether, which was needed to obtain a similar yield when KCl was used. Alkyl and aryl acids can be used, although yields are very dependent on the carboxylic acid used.

This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid from the Secretaría de Estado de Política Científica y Tecnológica of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Culture (contract Grant No.: CTQ2006-07451/PPQ).