3. Results and Discussion
Basically, this study reports the electrostatic immobilization of
molecular imidazolium cation, with different substituents, on the
functionalized silica surface. The different substituents on the
imidazolium ring induce different acidity strength which affects the
catalyst activity. These catalysts were employed in the esterification
of OA with TMP; and study the temperature and the substrate proportions
as process effective parameters.