Ionic Liquids as Process Solvents in Industry

In addition to the interest in ionic liquids that has been shown by academics, industrial chemists have been exploring their potential commercial uses, particularly as process solvents [3]. The patent literature regarding ionic liquids is extensive, but it is difficult to know which of these have translated into active industrial processes. For this to be known, the company in question must have announced the use of the ionic liquid process. 

Similarly, the Institut Fran(jais du Petrole s Difasol process for the dimerization of propene to hexenes with nickel(ll) catalysts in acidic chloroaluminate(lll) ionic liquids, which was one of the earhest announced uses of ionic hquids [133, 134], appears to not yet have been apphed on a commercial scale. 

It is tempting when reviewing the fundamental properties of ionic Hquids to summarize these in a few succinct statements. However, except in the most general sense, this has proved to not be possible for ionic Hquids. This is simply because they are an increasingly diverse group of materials, with ranges of properties and behaviors that broaden as more examples are made. In order to understand how 

(a) Wasserschied, P. and Welton, T. (eds) (2007) Ionic Liquids in Synthesis, 2nd edn, Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH, Weinheim (b) Wasserscheid, P. and Welton, T. (eds) (2002) Ionic Liquids in Synthesis, Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH, Weinheim (c) Endres, F., Abbott, 

and MacFarlane, D.R. (2008) Electrodeposition from Ionic Liquids, waey-VCH Verlag GmbH, Weinheim (d) Ohno, H. (2005) Electrochemical Aspects of Ionic Liquids, John Wiley Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ (e) Kirchner, 

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