Abstract The basic ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hydroxide,[bmIm] OH, efficiently catalyzes Knoevenagel condensation without requirement of any organic solvent. A wide range of aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes and ketones easily undergo condensations with diethyl malonate, malononitrile, ethyl cyanoacetate, malonic acid and ethyl acetoacetate. The reactions proceed at room temperature and are very fast (10–30 min). However, the ...
