Ionic liquids future

The potential improvements that ionic liquids may impart to conducting polymers have been widely discussed - increased doping levels, smoother films, increased conductivity, decreased over-oxidation and improved electrochemical stability and so on. However, the research to date in this area has only just begun to investigate these hypotheses and demonstrate any material advantages in the use of ionic liquids future directions in this area must focus on some of these issues in addition to simply demonstrating the use of new ionic liquids for conducting polymer synthesis. 

Chapters 1 and 2 have been reorganised and updated in line with recent developments. A new chapter on the Future of Purification has been added. It outlines developments in syntheses on solid supports, combinatorial chemistry as well as the use of ionic liquids for chemical reactions and reactions in fluorous media. These technologies are becoming increasingly useful and popular so much so that many future commercially available substances will most probably be prepared using these procedures. Consequently, a knowledge of their basic principles will be helpful in many purification methods of the future. 

These preliminary studies notwithstanding, much more HSE data for ionic liquids will be needed in the near future. We anticipate that commercial suppliers will... 

In the meantime, we believe that the best prediction of the toxicity of an ionic liquid of type [cation] [anion] can be derived from the often well known toxicity data for the salts [cation]Cl and Na[anion]. Since almost all chemistry in nature takes place in aqueous media, the ions of the ionic liquid can be assumed to be present in dissociated form. Therefore, a reliable prediction of ionic liquids HSE data should be possible from a combination of the loiown effects of the alkali metal and chloride salts. Already from these, very preliminary, studies, it is clear that HSE considerations will be an important criterion in selection and exclusion of specific ionic liquid candidates for future large-scale, technical applications. 

The future price of ionic liquids will also reflect intellectual property considerations. While the currently most frequently requested ionic liquids, the tetrafluoroborate and hexafluorophosphate ionic liquids, are all patent-free, many recently developed, new ionic liquid systems are protected by state of matter patents. Table 2.2-2 gives an overview of some examples published after 1999. 

Research in ionic liquid methodology is still young and there is still a lot to explore. Prevention of fundamental research on some new families of ionic liquids by exploitation of an IP position would simply kill off a lot of future possibilities. 

Obviously, with the development of the first catalytic reactions in ionic liquids, the general research focus turned away from basic studies of metal complexes dissolved in ionic liquids. Today there is a clear lack of fundamental understanding of many catalytic processes in ionic liquids on a molecular level. Much more fundamental work is undoubtedly needed and should be encouraged in order to speed up the future development of transition metal catalysis in ionic liquids. 

In the author s group, much lower-melting benzenesulfonate, tosylate, or octyl-sulfate ionic liquids have recently been obtained in combination with imidazolium ions. These systems have been successfully applied as catalyst media for the biphasic, Rh-catalyzed hydroformylation of 1-octene [14]. The catalyst activities obtained with these systems were in all cases equal to or even higher than those found with the commonly used [BMIM][PF6]. Taking into account the much lower costs of the ionic medium, the better hydrolysis stability, and the wider disposal options relating to, for example, an octylsulfate ionic liquid in comparison to [BMIM][PF6], there is no real reason to center future hydroformylation research around hexafluorophosphate ionic liquids. 

In comparison with traditional biphasic catalysis using water, fluorous phases, or polar organic solvents, transition metal catalysis in ionic liquids represents a new and advanced way to combine the specific advantages of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis. In many applications, the use of a defined transition metal complex immobilized on a ionic liquid support has already shown its unique potential. Many more successful examples - mainly in fine chemical synthesis - can be expected in the future as our loiowledge of ionic liquids and their interactions with transition metal complexes increases. 

In this book we have decided to concentrate on purely synthetic applications of ionic liquids, just to keep the amount of material to a manageable level. FFowever, we think that synthetic and non-synthetic applications (and the people doing research in these areas) should not be treated separately for a number of reasons. Each area can profit from developments made in the other field, especially concerning the availability of physicochemical data and practical experience of development of technical processes using ionic liquids. In fact, in all production-scale chemical reactions some typically non-synthetic aspects (such as the heat capacity of the ionic liquid or product extraction from the ionic catalyst layer) have to be considered anyway. The most important reason for close collaboration by synthetic and non-synthetic scientists in the field of ionic liquid research is, however, the fact that in both areas an increase in the understanding of the ionic liquid material is the key factor for successful future development. 

Nevertheless, a certain process of focussing can be expected in the future. The authors expect that this process will give rise to two different groups of ionic liquids that will be routinely used throughout academia and industry. 

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. 

Rogers, R.D. Seddon, K.R. (2003) Ionic Liquids - Solvents ofthe Future Science, 302, 792-793. 

The second group of recently developed ionic liquids is often referred to as task specific ionic liquids in the literature [15]. These ionic liquids are designed and optimised for the best performance in high-value-added applications. Functionalised [16], fluorinated [17], deuterated [18] and chiral ionic liquids [19] are expected to play a future role as special solvents for sophisticated synthetic applications, analytical tools (stationary or mobile phases for chromatography, matrixes for MS etc.), sensors and special electrolytes. 

Taking into account the much lower costs of the ionic medium, the better stability against hydrolysis and the wider disposal options related to, for example, an octylsulfate or a tosylate ionic liquid in comparison to BMIM PF6], there is no real reason to centre future hydroformylation research around hexafluorophosphate ionic liquids. 

The ionic liquid investment could be further reduced if future research enables the application of ammonium based alkylsulfate or arylsulfonate ionic liquids. For these systems bulk prices around 15 /kg are expected. Ammonium based alkylsulfate or arylsulfonate ionic liquids usually show melting points slightly above room temperature but clearly below the operating temperature of the hydroformylation reaction. Therefore these systems may be less suitable for the liquid-liquid biphasic process in which the ionic liquid may be involved in process steps at ambient temperature (e.g. phase separation or liquid storage). In contrast, for the SILP catalyst a room temperature ionic liquid is not necessarily required as long as the film becomes a liquid under the reaction conditions. Assuming an ammonium based SILP catalyst, the capital investment for the ionic liquid for the industrial SILP catalyst would add up to 105,000 . 

Of course, there is still a large amount of research to be done to develop further the very preliminary character of the above described economic evaluation of an ionic liquid hydroformylation process. Only on the basis of more detailed data it will be possible to decide whether we will see an industrial hydroformylation plant using ionic liquids in the future. 

In conclusion, we must concur with both Shakespeare and Haldane. There are more things (a trillion more) in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy, and, yes, the universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose. To place the preceding observations in context, there are only about 600 molecular solvents commonly in use in industry today. So the reasons for discussing ionic liquids as designer solvents are valid with a trillion solvents to select from, an optimum solvent for any given reaction will exist. The only problem will be findiug it. Thus, we believe that the future of ionic liquids will. 

Ohno, H. (Ed.) Electrochemical Aspects of Ionic Liquids, Wiley-Interscience, Hohoken, NJ, 2005 Ohno, H. (Ed.) Ionic Liquids The Front and Future of Material Development, CMC Press, Tokyo, 2003. 

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