Abstract
Catalytic Beckmann rearrangement of oximes is investigated in a novel task-specific ionic liquid consisting sulfonyl chloride with easy separation of the products by extraction with water.
Under mild conditions and without any additional organic solvents, Beckmann rearrangement of ketoximes was performed in a novel task-specific ionic liquid consisting sulfonyl chloride. Especially for the conversion of cyclohexanone oxime to ε-caprolactam, ε-caprolactam has good solubility in water while the task-specific ionic liquid is immiscible with water, therefore, ε-caprolactam could be easily separated from the reaction system by water extraction.