Sustainable improvement of the tetrabromoethylcyclohexane synthesis using Amino ILs as Catalysts in Water. A facile and environmentally-friendly procedure

BACKGROUND Due to environmental concerns, there is a need to eliminate or drastically reduce the use of conventional organic solvents, as these are environmentally harmful. This paper reports on a novel one‐pot synthesis of tetrabromoethylcyclohexane (TBECH) in aqueous medium, using amino‐functionalized ionic liquids, which catalyze the reaction and make it more environmentally friendly. RESULTS Compared with the traditional synthesis, tetrabromoethylcyclohexane is obtained with equivalent yield (90%), at room temperature, in a short reaction time (∼2 h compared with the previous 17 h) and with a strong reduction of the use of organic solvents; finally two isomers are obtained instead of four. Furthermore, a novel procedure to prepare the ionic liquids has been designed and two new ones have also been synthesised.