Epimerization of glucose over ionic liquid/phosphomolybdate hybrids: structure-activity relationship

The influence of the crystal structure and chemical nature of some ionic liquid/phosphomolybdate hybrids on their catalytic activity in the epimerization of glucose is studied. A clear evidence for structure-activity relationship is found. The inorganic part of the hybrid assures the active sites for the reaction; meanwhile the organic cation nature organizes the structure and controls the diffusion of the reactants. This study can be used as a first approach to predict the symmetry, long range order and active sites availability of the presented class of imidazolium based polyoxometalate hybrids.