Five SO 3 H and CF 3 SO 3 H-functionalized ionic liquids (ILs) with different acidity were synthesized. The catalytic performances of various ILs were evaluated for producing biodiesel in the esterification reaction and the yield of biodiesel increased with the increase of ILs’ acid strength. [Bsmim]CF 3 SO 3 was found to be a highly-efficient catalyst for increasing the biodiesel yield due to its greatly enhanced Brønsted acidity, and it was also an environmental friendly solvent for its good recyclability and hydrophilicity. The experimental design and study were carried out by using the response surface methodology (RSM) for optimizing the production process. The optimum biodiesel yield of nearly 99% was achieved at the conditions that the catalyst amount of 11%, the molar ratio of methanol to oleic acid of 9:1, the reaction time of 3 h and the reaction temperature of 62 °C were used. In addition, the catalyst showed an excellent reusability.
Graphical A multifunctional heterogeneous Pd-POPs-CF 3 SO 3 H catalyst containing integrated acid and metal sites and anions was synthesized for tandem conversion of fructose to bio-diketones in good yield with an extraordinary TOF. Tandem conversion of biomass to value-added fine chemicals is a significant challenge. For instance, the production of fine chemicals from fructose involves conversion to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF), followed by another reaction and purification. Dual catalyst systems have been used in nearly every study on the tandem conversion of fructose to bio-diketones. Therefore, a sole multifunctional heterogeneous catalyst was developed in this study for the tandem conversion of fructose to bio-diketones, which has not been reported previously. Instrument corrosion and the separation or purification of 5-HMF were avoided using the multifunctional heterogeneous catalyst, which contained integrated active sites of acid, metal, and anions. The multifunctional CF 3 SO 3 H-functionalized porous-organic-polymers(POPs)-supported Pd catalyst (Pd-POPs-CF 3 SO 3 H) was prepared using a series of modifications. A bio-diketone yield of 51.0 % was achieved using Pd-POPs-CF 3 SO 3 H in the tandem conversion of fructose with an excellent TOF of 88.3 h −1 which is much more efficient than catalyst reported in literatures. Pd-POPs-CF 3 SO 3 H could be reused at least three times with stable performance. Control experiments and characterization results proved that the high specific surface area, hierarchical pore structure, abundance of CF 3 SO 3 −1 anions, and proximity of Pd moieties and acid sites (“The closer the better” principle) led to the decent performance for bio-diketone.