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Extraction and Esterification of Low‐Titer Short‐Chain Volatile Fatty Acids from Anaerobic Fermentation with Ionic Liquids
Author(s) -
Andersen Stephen J.,
Berton Jan K. E. T.,
Naert Pieter,
Gildemyn Sylvia,
Rabaey Korneel,
Stevens Christian V.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
chemsuschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.412
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1864-564X
pISSN - 1864-5631
DOI - 10.1002/cssc.201600473
Subject(s) - ionic liquid , phosphonium , chemistry , acetic acid , extraction (chemistry) , organic chemistry , inorganic chemistry , catalysis
Ionic liquids can both act as a solvent and mediate esterification to valorize low‐titer volatile fatty acids and generate organic solvents from renewable carbon sources including biowaste and CO 2 . In this study, four phosphonium ionic liquids were tested for single‐stage extraction of acetic acid from a dilute stream and esterification to ethyl acetate with added ethanol and heat. The esterification proceeded with a maximum conversion of 85.9±1.3 % after 30 min at 75 °C at a 1:1 stoichiometric ratio of reactants. Extraction and esterification can be tailored using mixed‐anion ionic liquids; this is demonstrated herein using a common trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium cation and a mixed chloride and bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide anion ionic liquid. As a further proof‐of‐concept, ethyl acetate was generated from an ionic liquid‐driven esterification of an acetic acid extractant generated using CO 2 as the only carbon source by microbial electrosynthesis.