Efficient Lewis Acid Ionic Liquid-Catalyzed Synthesis of the Key Intermediate of Coenzyme Q10 under Microwave Irradiation

Molecules

Yue Chen¹  Yuangang Zu¹  Yujie Fu¹  Xuan Zhang¹  Ping Yu¹  Guoyong Sun¹ 

[1] ¹Key Laboratory of Forest Plant Ecology, Ministry of Education, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China ²Engineering Research Center of Forest Bio-preparation, Ministry of Education, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China ³Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Institute of Pharmacy, University of Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany

关键词: ionic liquids;    FT-IR;    acidity;    microwave irradiation;   

DOI  :  10.3390/molecules15129486

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

An efficient synthesis of a valuable intermediate of coenzyme Q₁₀ by microwave-assisted Lewis acidic ionic liquid (IL)-catalyzed Friedel-Crafts alkylation is reported. The acidity of six [Etpy]BF₄-based ionic liquids was characterized by means of the FT-IR technique using acetonitrile as a molecular probe. The catalytic activities of these ionic liquids were correlated with their Lewis acidity. With increasing Lewis acid strength of the ionic liquids, their catalytic activity in the Friedel-Crafts reaction increased, except for [Etpy]BF₄-AlCl₃. The effects of the reaction system, the molar fraction of Lewis acid in the Lewis acid ILs and heating techniques were also investigated. Among the six Lewis acid ionic liquids tested [Etpy]BF₄-ZnCl₂ showed the best catalytic activity, with a yield of 89% after a very short reaction time (150 seconds). This procedure has the advantages of higher efficiency, better reusability of ILs, energy conservation and eco-friendliness. The method has practical value for preparation of CoQ₁₀ on an industrial scale.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.