Ionic liquid stabilized Rh Nanoparticles for Citral Cyclodehydration

Smells nice, too: The cyclodehydration of citral is achieved by using rhodium nanoparticles dispersed in an imidazolium-based ionic liquid. p-Cymene, p--dimethylstyrene, and limonene are obtained with selectivity greater than 75¿%. The interaction between the imidazolium cations and the metal nanoparticles results in an acidic catalyst, which plays a similar function as a mineral acid but has a one order of magnitude higher activity.