Patent ID: 7498469

Claim:
A process for producing glycoaldehyde comprising: contacting an imidazolium salt and a base to form a n-heterocyclic carbene; and contacting said carbene with formaldehyde to form glycoaldehyde, wherein the imidazolium salt is represented by: wherein R 1 and R 2 are independently substituted aryl groups having about 6 to 30 carbons, R 3 and R 4 are independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl groups having up to 30 carbons, substituted alkyl groups having up to 30 carbons, cycloalkyl groups having about 5 to 30 carbons, substituted cycloalkyl groups having about 5 to 30 carbons, aryl groups having 6 to 30 carbons, and substituted aryl groups having about 6 to 30 carbons, R 5 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, a hydroxymethylene, a hydroxy-hydroxymethylene-methylidene, and a halide, and X is an anion; and wherein selectivity to glycoaldehyde is at least about 25%.