Ionic Liquids Technologies

Scaling up Ionic Liquid Technology from Laboratory to Continuous Pilot Plant Operation... 

What can drive the switch from existing homogeneous processes to novel ionic liquids technology One major point is probably a higher cost-effectiveness. This can result from improved reaction rates and selectivity, associated with more efficient catalyst recovery and better environmental compatibility. 

The ionic liquid process has a number of advantages over traditional cationic polymerization processes such as the Cosden process, which employs a liquid-phase aluminium(III) chloride catalyst to polymerize butene feedstocks [30]. The separation and removal of the product from the ionic liquid phase as the reaction proceeds allows the polymer to be obtained simply and in a highly pure state. Indeed, the polymer contains so little of the ionic liquid that an aqueous wash step can be dispensed with. This separation also means that further reaction (e.g., isomerization) of the polymer s unsaturated ot-terminus is minimized. In addition to the ease of isolation of the desired product, the ionic liquid is not destroyed by any aqueous washing procedure and so can be reused in subsequent polymerization reactions, resulting in a reduction of operating costs. The ionic liquid technology does not require massive capital investment and is reported to be easily retrofitted to existing Cosden process plants. 

The controlled synthesis of polymers, as opposed to their undesired formation, is an area that has not received much academic interest. Most interest to date has been commercial, and focused on a narrow area the use ofchloroaluminate(III) ionic liquids for cationic polymerization reactions. The lack of publications in the area, together with the lack of detailed and useful synthetic information in the patent literature, places hurdles in front of those with limited loiowledge of ionic liquid technology who wish to employ it for polymerization studies. The expanding interest in ionic liquids as solvents for synthesis, most notably for the synthesis of discrete organic molecules, should stimulate interest in their use for polymer science. 

How does one identify a promising non-synthetic application for ionic liquid technology VJe basically expect that, in all non-synthetic, high value-adding applications, in which the application of an ionic liquid achieves some unique and superior performance of a technical device, ionic liquid technology may have a very good chance of quick and successful introduction. 

Legeay JC, Goujon JY, Eynde JJV, Toupet L, Bazureau JP (2006) Liquid-phase synthesis of polyhydroquinoline using task-specific ionic liquid technology. J Comb Chem 8 829-833... 

Taking into account these findings, a microreaction system has been developed by loLiTec Ionic Liquid Technologies GmbH Co to improve mass and heat transfer. The producfion capacity of the currently running system is about 0.5kg/h with a purity >99%. 

Many petrochemical companies hold extensive patent portfolios relating to ionic liquid technologies. However, the first of these to announce an industrial process is PetroChina. The process for alkylation of isobutene uses an alumi-nium(iii) chloride based ionic liquid and is called lonikylation. After success at the pilot plant stage, the technology is currently being retrofitted into an existing sulfuric acid alkylation plant in China with an output of 65 000 tonnes per year. This retrofit will increase yield and capacity at the site and is the largest commercial use of ionic liquids reported to date. ... 

A novel and efficient task-specific ionic liquid synthesis of Biginelli compounds has been developed. Ionic liquid phase-bound acetoacetate reacted with urea or thiourea and various aldehydes in the presence of a cheap catalyst to afford ionic liquid phases supported 3,4-dihydropyrimidine-2-(thi)ones. The desired 3,4-dihydropy-rimidine-2-(thi)ones were easily cleaved from the ionic liquid phase by transesteri-flcation under mild conditions in good yields and high purity. The task-specific ionic liquid technology represents an attractive alternative to the classical solid- and... 

It was our intention to provide in the nine previous chapters the essential information for a modern understanding of the nature of ionic liquids as well as a review of aU different synthetic applications that have benefited from ionic liquid technology so far. In the last five years - since the first edition of this book appeared - the field of ionic liquid chemistry has advanced greatly. Much insight has been added, many new promising applications have appeared but also some of the paradigms have had to be modified. 

On the Use of Ionic Liquid Technology for the Selective Separation of Organic Compounds and Metal Ions... 

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