Poly Caprolactam Supported Hexaethylene Glycolic Imidazolium Ionic Liquid as a Heterogeneous Promoter for Nucleophilic Fluorination

Hexaethylene glycolic vinyl imidazolium (hexaEGVIM) was supported on N-vinyl caprolactam via covalent bonds through simple copolymerization to form poly caprolactam-supported hexaethylene glycol-substituted imidazolium salts (PCLS-hexaEGIM). The resulting heterogeneous PCLS-hexaEGIM promoter was active, selective, and stable for aliphatic nucleophilic substitution reactions using alkali metal salts. The alkali metal salts dramatically enhanced the reactivity of this heterogeneous catalyst with easily isolable higher product yields, reducing the formation of by-products. Therefore, nucleophilic fluorination and other substitution reactions can act as highly efficient catalysts in various sulfonyloxyalkanes and haloalkanes with regard to their corresponding fluorinated products.