Chinese Journal of Catalysis ›› 2007, Vol. 28 ›› Issue (10): 875-879.

• Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Preparation and Catalytic Performance of Gold Nanoparticles Stabilized by Thioether-Functionalized Ionic Liquid

LI Biaomo1, YU Ningya1*, WANG Pingjun1, JIN Yong1,2, YIN Donghong1,2*   

  1. 1 Institute of Fine Catalysis and Synthesis, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, Hunan, China; 2 Technology Center, China Tobacco Hunan Industrial Corporation, Changsha 410001, Hunan, China
  • Received:2007-10-25 Online:2007-10-25 Published:2011-10-28

Abstract: A novel thioether-functionalized ionic liquid (TFIL) was synthesized and applied as a stabilizer for the preparation of gold nanoparticles (GNP) in the ionic liquid of 1-n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate. GNP stabilized by TFIL (GNP-TFIL) were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. GNP-TFIL remained the structure of TFIL after GNP was stabilized by TFIL. GNP-TFIL displayed an interface resonance absorption appearing around 526 nm, which suggests the formation of GNP. GNP stabilized by TFIL could be dispersed uniformly with the particle size of2.0-3.6nm. GNP exhibited high catalytic activity in the epoxidation of styrene and could be reused. The conversion of styrene and the selectivity for styrene oxide were as high as 100% and 88.5%, respectively, when the reaction was performed at 45 ℃ for6 husing 3-chloroperoxybenzoic acid as the oxidant.

Key words: thioether-functionalized ionic liquid, gold nanoparticle, styrene, epoxidation, styrene oxide