Chloroaluminate melt

The first example of homogeneous transition metal catalysis in an ionic liquid was the platinum-catalyzed hydroformylation of ethene in tetraethylammonium trichlorostannate (mp. 78 °C), described by Parshall in 1972 (Scheme 5.2-1, a)) [1]. In 1987, Knifton reported the ruthenium- and cobalt-catalyzed hydroformylation of internal and terminal alkenes in molten [Bu4P]Br, a salt that falls under the now accepted definition for an ionic liquid (see Scheme 5.2-1, b)) [2]. The first applications of room-temperature ionic liquids in homogeneous transition metal catalysis were described in 1990 by Chauvin et al. and by Wilkes et ak. Wilkes et al. used weekly acidic chloroaluminate melts and studied ethylene polymerization in them with Ziegler-Natta catalysts (Scheme 5.2-1, c)) [3]. Chauvin s group dissolved nickel catalysts in weakly acidic chloroaluminate melts and investigated the resulting ionic catalyst solutions for the dimerization of propene (Scheme 5.2-1, d)) [4]. 

Ionic liquids formed by treatment of a halide salt with a Lewis acid (such as chloro-aluminate or chlorostannate melts) generally act both as solvent and as co-catalyst in transition metal catalysis. The reason for this is that the Lewis acidity or basicity, which is always present (at least latently), results in strong interactions with the catalyst complex. In many cases, the Lewis acidity of an ionic liquid is used to convert the neutral catalyst precursor into the corresponding cationic active form. The activation of Cp2TiCl2 [26] and (ligand)2NiCl2 [27] in acidic chloroaluminate melts and the activation of (PR3)2PtCl2 in chlorostannate melts [28] are examples of this land of activation (Eqs. 5.2-1, 5.2-2, and 5.2-3). 

As early as 1990, Chauvin and his co-workers from IFP published their first results on the biphasic, Ni-catalyzed dimerization of propene in ionic liquids of the [BMIM]Cl/AlCl3/AlEtCl2 type [4]. In the following years the nickel-catalyzed oligomerization of short-chain alkenes in chloroaluminate melts became one of the most intensively investigated applications of transition metal catalysts in ionic liquids to date. 

The Ni-catalyzed oligomerization of olefins in ionic liquids requires a careful choice of the ionic liquid s acidity. In basic melts (Table 5.2-2, entry (a)), no dimerization activity is observed. FFere, the basic chloride ions prevent the formation of free coordination sites on the nickel catalyst. In acidic chloroaluminate melts, an oligomerization reaction takes place even in the absence of a nickel catalyst (entry (b)). FFowever, no dimers are produced, but a mixture of different oligomers is... 

For this specific task, ionic liquids containing allcylaluminiums proved unsuitable, due to their strong isomerization activity [102]. Since, mechanistically, only the linkage of two 1-butene molecules can give rise to the formation of linear octenes, isomerization activity in the solvent inhibits the formation of the desired product. Therefore, slightly acidic chloroaluminate melts that would enable selective nickel catalysis without the addition of alkylaluminiums were developed [104]. It was found that an acidic chloroaluminate ionic liquid buffered with small amounts of weak organic bases provided a solvent that allowed a selective, biphasic reaction with [(H-COD)Ni(hfacac)]. 

Relatively little attention has been devoted to the direct electrodeposition of transition metal-aluminum alloys in spite of the fact that isothermal electrodeposition leads to coatings with very uniform composition and structure and that the deposition current gives a direct measure of the deposition rate. Unfortunately, neither aluminum nor its alloys can be electrodeposited from aqueous solutions because hydrogen is evolved before aluminum is plated. Thus, it is necessary to employ nonaqueous solvents (both molecular and ionic) for this purpose. Among the solvents that have been used successfully to electrodeposit aluminum and its transition metal alloys are the chloroaluminate molten salts, which consist of inorganic or organic chloride salts combined with anhydrous aluminum chloride. An introduction to the chemical, electrochemical, and physical properties of the most commonly used chloroaluminate melts is given below. 

The coordination of transition metal ions in acidic chloroaluminate melts has not been firmly established. However, in the case of AICb-EtMelmCI. the E0 values of simple redox systems that are electrochemically accessible in both acidic and basic melt, e.g., Hg(II)/Hg [51], Sb(III)/Sb [52], and Sn(II)/Sn [53] exhibit a large positive potential shift on going from basic melt, where metal ions are known to exist as discrete anionic chloride complexes, to acidic melt. Similar results were observed for Cu(I) in AlCh-NaCl [48]. This dramatic decrease in electrochemical stability isprima facie evidence that metal ions in acidic melt are probably only weakly solvated by anionic species such as AICI4 and AECI-. Additional evidence for this is derived from the results of EXAFS measurements of simple metal ions such Co(II), Mn(II), and Ni(II) in acidic AlCh-EtMelmCl, which indicate that each of these ions is coordinated by three bidentate AICI4 ions to give octahedrally-coordinated species such as [ M (AIC14) 2 ] [54]. Most transition metal chloride compounds are virtually... 

In many ways, chloroaluminate molten salts are ideal solvents for the electrodeposition of transition metal-aluminum alloys because they constitute a reservoir of reducible aluminum-containing species, they are excellent solvents for many transition metal ions, and they exhibit good intrinsic ionic conductivity. In fact, the first organic salt-based chloroaluminate melt, a mixture of aluminum chloride and 1-ethylpyridinium bromide (EtPyBr), was formulated as a solvent for electroplating aluminum [55, 56] and subsequently used as a bath to electroform aluminum waveguides [57], Since these early articles, numerous reports have been published that describe the electrodeposition of aluminum from this and related chloroaluminate systems for examples, see Liao et al. [58] and articles cited therein. 

The first evidence for the electrodeposition of Ni-Al alloy from chloroaluminate melts was presented by Gale et al. [109], who attributed an unexpected oxidation... 

The phase distribution observed in the alloys deposited from AlCb-NaCl is very similar to that of Mn-Al alloys electrodeposited from the same chloroaluminate melt [126 129], Such similarity may also be found between the phase structure of Cr-Al and Mn-Al alloys produced by rapid solidification from the liquid [7, 124], These observations are coincident with the resemblance of the phase diagrams for Cr-Al and Mn-Al, which contain several intermetallic compounds with narrow compositional ranges [20], inhibition of the nucleation and growth of ordered, often low symmetry, intermetallic structures is commonly observed in non-equilibrium processing. Phase evolution is the result of a balance between the interface velocity and... 

In 1992, the ionic liquid methodology received a substantial boost when Wilkes and Zaworotko described the synthesis of non-chloroaluminate, room temperature liquid melts (e. g. low melting tetrafluoroborate melts) which may be regarded as second generation ionic liquids [6]. Nowadays, tetrafluoroborate and (the slightly later published [7]) hexafluorophosphate ionic liquids are still widely used in ionic liquid research. However, their use in many technical applications will be clearly limited by their relatively high sensitivity towards hydrolysis. Of course, the tendency of their anions to hydrolyse is much less pronounced than for the chloroaluminate melts but it still clearly exists. Consequently, the technical application of tetrafluoroborate and hexafluorophosphate ionic liquids will be effectively restricted to those applications where water-free conditions can be realised at acceptable costs. 

The electrochemical reduction of TiCU and ZrCl4, in chloroaluminate melts and other molten salt systems, to lower valent halides has been fairly widely studied [4-7]. This has also been extended to studies of centered hexanuclear Zr halide clusters. Thus, ambient temperature AICI3 -1 -ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (ImCl) molten salts, both basic (40/60 mol% AlCls/ImCl) and acidic (60/40 mol% AICI3 /ImCl), were used in an electrochemical investigation of clusters... 

Zawodzinski, T. A., Jr. and Osteryoung, R. A., Oxide and hydroxide species formed on addition of water in ambient-temperature chloroaluminate melts. An O NMR study, Inorg. Chem., 29,2842,1990. 

Franzen, G. et al.. The anionic structure of room-temperature organic chloroaluminate melts from secondary ion mass-spectrometry. Org. Mass Spec., 21,443,1986. 

Wilkes, J.S., Levisky, J.A., Wilson, R.A., and Hussey, C.L., Dialkylimidazo-lium chloroaluminate melts A new class of room-temperature ionic liquids for electrochemistry, spectroscopy, and synthesis. Inorg. Chem., 21, 1263-1264, 1982. 

One problem with chloroaluminate melts is that aluminum chloride and most transition metal chlorides (cf. Eqs. 10.99 to 10.101) are hygroscopic, and even if very carefully handled will hydrolyze from any moisture in the atmosphere ... 

One of the problems encountered with the Werth cell was an increase in resistance with cycling. This may have been caused in part by the /3-alumina reacting with the acidic sodium chloroaluminate melt. Coetzer had the idea of using transition metal chlorides as a positive electrode and chose a basic sodium chloroaluminate melt as the liquid electrolyte. This is compatible with /3-alumina, and a new class of secondary cells based upon the reaction between sodium metal and transition metal chloride has resulted from this work. Collectively, the term Zebra battery is used to describe this new class of cell. 

Room-temperature chloroaluminate melts exhibit adjustable Lewis acidity, defined by the chloride ion concentration or chloroacidity [6]. Acidic melts result when a molar excess of aluminum chloride is combined with the organic chloride salt (>50 mol% A1C13), and basic melts are obtained when an excess of the salt is mixed with A1C13 (<50 mol% A1C13). The chloroacidity of these melts is well described by the following equilibrium reaction ... 

Acidic chloroaluminate ionic liquids were used as reaction media for Friedel-Crafts reactions as early as 1976 [34], Systematic investigations into Friedel-Crafts alkylations of benzene with the same acidic systems followed in 1986 by Wilkes et al. [35]. The alkylation of benzene with alkenes in acidic imidazolium chloroaluminate melts was disclosed in a patent by BP Chemicals in 1994 [36]. Here, as advantages over the reaction with aluminum trichloride in organic solvents, claims are made regarding the easy isolation of the product, the practically total reusability of the liquid catalyst and the better selectivity to the desired products. 

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