Structural regulation of magnetic polymer microsphere@ionic liquids with an intermediate protective layer and application as core-shell-shell catalysts with high stability and activity

A novel ionic liquid immobilized on a magnetic polymer microsphere catalyst is reported in this paper. The obtained core-shell-shell catalyst consisted of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) as the core, catalytic inert St-co-DVB as the intermediate protective layer, and cross-linked polyaryl imidazole ionic liquids as the active catalytic layer located at the outermost [Im[OH]/MNPs@P(St-DVB)@P(VBC-DVB)]. This catalyst exhibited a high ion-exchange rate (64.65%), high saturation magnetic strength, and excellent acid and alkali corrosion resistance. In the catalyzed Knoevenagel condensation of benzaldehyde and ethyl cyanoacetate, the conversion of benzaldehyde maintained at 92.1% during six times reuse. Optimizing the materials of the protective layer and regulating the thickness of the inert protective layer decreased the corrosion ratio of MNPs in acidic media from 44.82 to 0.44%. Adjusting the thickness of the catalytic layer realized excellent catalytic activity (97%) and high magnetic response performance. In summary, introducing an inert protective layer to the structure of ionic liquids immobilized on the magnetic polymer microsphere catalyst, regulating its thickness, and optimizing its structure achieved a catalyst with high activity, excellent stability, and easy magnetic separation.