A series of ionic liquid heteropoly acids supported by chlorine balls were prepared by amination and sulfonation,etc.,and their catalytic properties in the transesterification of methanol and soybean oil to biodiesel and the factors affecting the biodiesel yield were investigated.Moreover,an experimental design was exploited via re-sponse surface methodology(RSM)for the optimization of process variables.The results indicated that[CPPI-SO3H]2 0H1.0PW12O40 catalyst exhibited superior performance during synthetic process.The suitable Bronsted acid strength and"pseudo liquid phase"characteristics of the catalyst were the reasons for its high catalytic activity.Un-der the optimum preparation conditions of 25.5∶1.0 molar ratio of methanol to soybean oil,5.2%of soybean oil by weight of[CPPI-SO3H]2.0H1.0PW12O40,and 119 ℃ for 20 h,the average biodiesel yield of 97.3%was obtained,basically consistent with the predicted value of the model.