Authors: Hanlu Wang Mingsheng Xu Rujin Zhou
Publish Date: 2017/02/04
Volume: 23, Issue: 2, Pages: 54-
Abstract
The dual role of the ionic liquid 1butyl3methylimidazolium trifluoroacetic acid C4mimTFA as an extractant for thiophene TH and a catalyst for the oxidation of TH was explored at the molecular level by performing density functional theory DFT calculations The calculated interaction energies demonstrated why C4mimTFA is a better extractant for thiophene sulfone THO2 than for TH Two pathways were proposed for the oxidation of TH to THO2 with C4mimTFA acting as a catalyst In the dominant pathway a peracid is formed which then oxidizes TH to the sulfoxide and sulfones The presence of C4mimTFA was found to greatly reduce the barrier to the oxidative desulfurization ODS of TH using H2O2 as an oxidantThis work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China 21403038 the Guangdong Provincial Natural Science Foundation 2015A030313892 the Training Program for Outstanding Young Teachers in Colleges and Universities in Guangdong Province YQ2015116 and the Students Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program in Guangdong University of Petrochemical Technology 201511656006
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