Alternative ionic liquids

We are convinced that ionic liquids offer a huge potential for better, more efficient, safer or totally new, engineering applications, but there is still much to do. Alternative ionic liquid structures, more physico-chemical and engineering data, large-scale ionic liquid production, registration of new ionic liquids, improved theoretical prediction tools and the development of dedicated process units are on the way. The outcome of these efforts will certainly facilitate in the future the application of these fascinating liquids in more and more technical applications. 

Interest in using ionic liquid (IL) media as alternatives to traditional organic solvents in synthesis [1 ], in liquid/liquid separations from aqueous solutions [5-9], and as liquid electrolytes for electrochemical processes, including electrosynthesis, primarily focus on the unique combination of properties exhibited by ILs that differentiate them from molecular solvents. 

An alternative avenue for the exploration of the polarity of a solvent is by investigation of its effect on a chemical reaction. Since the purpose of this book is to review the potential application of ionic liquids in synthesis, this could be the most productive way of discussing ionic liquid polarity. Again, the field is in its infancy, but some interesting results are beginning to appear. 

The measurement of transport numbers by the above electrochemical methods entails a significant amount of experimental effort to generate high-quality data. In addition, the methods do not appear applicable to many of the newer non-haloalu-minate ionic liquid systems. An interesting alternative to the above method utilizes the NMR-generated self-diffusion coefficient data discussed above. If both the cation (Dr+) and anion (Dx ) self-diffusion coefficients are measured, then both the cation (tR+) and anion (tx ) transport numbers can be determined by using the following Equations (3.6-6) and (3.6-7) [41, 44] ... 

Many transition metal complexes dissolve readily in ionic liquids, which enables their use as solvents for transition metal catalysis. Sufficient solubility for a wide range of catalyst complexes is an obvious, but not trivial, prerequisite for a versatile solvent for homogenous catalysis. Some of the other approaches to the replacement of traditional volatile organic solvents by greener alternatives in transition metal catalysis, namely the use of supercritical CO2 or perfluorinated solvents, very often suffer from low catalyst solubility. This limitation is usually overcome by use of special ligand systems, which have to be synthesized prior to the catalytic reaction. 

Obviously, there are many good reasons to study ionic liquids as alternative solvents in transition metal-catalyzed reactions. Besides the engineering advantage of their nonvolatile natures, the investigation of new biphasic reactions with an ionic catalyst phase is of special interest. The possibility of adjusting solubility properties by different cation/anion combinations permits systematic optimization of the biphasic reaction (with regard, for example, to product selectivity). Attractive options to improve selectivity in multiphase reactions derive from the preferential solubility of only one reactant in the catalyst solvent or from the in situ extraction of reaction intermediates from the catalyst layer. Moreover, the application of an ionic liquid catalyst layer permits a biphasic reaction mode in many cases where this would not be possible with water or polar organic solvents (due to incompatibility with the catalyst or problems with substrate solubility, for example). 

The use of acidic chloroaluminates as alternative liquid acid catalysts for the allcy-lation of light olefins with isobutane, for the production of high octane number gasoline blending components, is also a challenge. This reaction has been performed in a continuous flow pilot plant operation at IFP [44] in a reactor vessel similar to that used for dimerization. The feed, a mixture of olefin and isobutane, is pumped continuously into the well stirred reactor containing the ionic liquid catalyst. In the case of ethene, which is less reactive than butene, [pyridinium]Cl/AlCl3 (1 2 molar ratio) ionic liquid proved to be the best candidate (Table 5.3-4). 

However, ionic liquids and SCCO2 are not competing concepts for the same applications. While ionic liquids can be considered as alternatives for polar organic solvents, the use of SCCO2 can cover those applications in which non-polar solvents are usually used. 

We are far here from aiming to advise anybody about future research projects. The only message that we would like to communicate is that a chemical reaction is not necessarily surprising or important because it somehow works as well in an ionic liquid. One should look for those applications in which the specific properties of the ionic liquids may allow one to achieve something special that has not been possible in traditional solvents. If the reaction can be performed better (whatever you may mean by that) in another solvent, then use that solvent. In order to be able to make that judgement, it is imperative that we all include comparisons with molecular solvents in our studies, and not only those that we loiow are bad, but those that are the best alternatives. 

Room temperature ionic liquids arc currently receiving considerable attention as environmentally friendly alternatives to conventional organic solvents in a variety of contexts.144 The ionic liquids have this reputation because of their high stability, inertness and, most importantly, extremely low vapor pressures. Because they are ionic and non-conducting they also possess other unique properties that can influence the yield and outcome of organic transformations. Polymerization in ionic liquids has been reviewed by Kubisa.145 Commonly used ionic liquids are tetra-alkylammonium, tetra-alkylphosphonium, 3-alkyl-l-methylimidazolium (16) or alkyl pyridinium salts (17). Counter-ions are typically PF6 and BF4 though many others are known. 

Before leaving ionic liquids it is worth mentioning their potential value in separation processes. Organic solvents are frequently used in multiphase extraction processes and pose the same problems in terms of VOC containment and recovery as they do in syntheses, hence ionic liquids could offer a more benign alternative. Interesting applications along this line which have been studied include separation of spent nuclear fuel from other nuclear waste and extraction of the antibiotic erythromycin-A. 

However, if we consider the alternative nucleophilic displacement, it is known that nucleophilic processes are accelerated by ionic liquids, but more pertinent is the fact that the Sn2 displacement of iodide from alkyl iodide (Mel) by Rh(CO)2l2 is slightly accelerated by ionic liquids (7). Unfortunately, ionic liquids would also be expected to accelerate the nucleophilic displacement of iodide from ethyl iodide by propionic acid to form ethyl propionate (Reaction 8). In fact, as an Sn2 Type II displacement (the interaction of two neutral species), the ester formation from propionic acid and ethyl iodide would be expected to be significantly increased compared to the reaction of Rh(CO)2l2 with EtI. Therefore, by operating in iodide containing ionic liquids, we had set up a situation in which we suppressed the normally predominant hydride mechanism, slightly accelerated the alternative nucleophilic mechanism, but dramatically increased the ethyl propionate by-product forming pathway. 

Significant progress has been made in the application of ionic liquids (ILs) as alternative solvents to C02 capture because of their unique properties such as very low vapour pressure, a broad range of liquid temperatures, excellent thermal and chemical stabilities and selective dissolution of certain organic and inorganic materials. ILs are liquid organic salts at ambient conditions with a cationic part and an anionic part. 

Even though Ti02-based materials have been far more investigated than any other photocatalyst and this chapter is dedicated to these systems, it is important at least to mention here some of the promising alternative materials studied for wastewater treatment. CdS hollow nanospheres were prepared in a single-step hydrothermal route by Li et al. [109] using the ionic liquid l-butyl-3-methylimidazolium... 

Besides using standard organic solvents in conjunction with microwave synthesis, the use of either water or so-called ionic liquids as alternative reaction media [32] has become increasingly popular in recent years. 

Ionic liquids are particularly applicable for use in microwave-mediated liquid-phase reactions as they efficiently couple with microwaves resulting in very rapid heating profiles (see Section 4.3.3.2). Furthermore, ionic liquids are immiscible with a wide range of organic solvents and provide an alternative non-aqueous two-phase system. An interesting approach involves the attachment of ionic liquid components to organic substrates. 

These alternative processes can be divided into two main categories, those that involve insoluble (Chapter 3) or soluble (Chapter 4) supports coupled with continuous flow operation or filtration on the macro - nano scale, and those in which the catalyst is immobilised in a separate phase from the product. These chapters are introduced by a discussion of aqueous biphasic systems (Chapter 5), which have already been commercialised. Other chapters then discuss newer approaches involving fluorous solvents (Chapter 6), ionic liquids (Chapter 7) and supercritical fluids (Chapter 8). 

There are many good reasons for applying ionic liquids as alternative solvents in transition metal catalysed reactions. Besides their very low vapour pressure and then-good thermal stability [33], an important advantage is the possibility of tuning then-solubility [34] and acidity/coordination properties [35] by varying the nature of the anions and cations systematically. 

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