An Oxalate-Bridged Binuclear Iron(III) Ionic Liquid for the Highly Efficient Glycolysis of Polyethylene Terephthalate under Microwave Irradiation.

An oxalate-bridged binuclear iron(III) ionic liquid combined with an imidazolium based cation, (dimim) [Fe Cl (μ-ox)], was synthesized and characterized by a wide range of techniques. This halometallate ionic liquid was active in catalyzing the depolymerization of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) by glycolysis, under conventional and microwave-assisted heating conditions. Both methodologies were very selective towards the production of bis(2-hydroxyethyl)terephthalate (BHET).