L-ethyl-3-methyl imidazolium acetate

Blends were prepared with cellulose or silk as soon as a common solvent was available [63, 69-71]. Recently, ionic liquids were used. The solvent l-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium acetate completely dissolves raw crustacean shells allowing to recover high purity chitin powder or films and fibres by direct spinning [72]. Films of poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL) blends with a-chitin and chitosan were produced. They are completely biodegradable and the crystallinity of PCL is suppressed in the blends due to hydrogen bond interaction between PCL and polysaccharides [73]. Blends were also realized with poly (3-hydroxybutyric acid) (PHB) and chitin or chitosan. They show faster biodegradation than the pure-state component polymers [74,75]. 

A. Radhi, K.A. Le, M.E. Ries, T. Budtova, Macroscopic and microscopic study of l-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium acetate-DMSO mixtures, J. Phys. Chem. B 119 (4) (2015) 1633-1640. 

The generation of the imidazolylidene from the ionic liquid l-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium acetate has been theoretically studied in the liquid and the gas phases and in the presence and in the absence of C02. In the liquid, CO2 appears to facilitate the carbene formation followed by the formation of the carboxylic adduct of the carbene. 

Andreatta, A.E. Arce A. Rodil, E. Soto, A. (2009). Physical Properties of Binary and Ternary Mixtures of Ethyl Acetate, Ethanol, and l-Octyl-3-methyl-imidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide at 298.15 K. J.Chem.Eng.Data 54, 3 (March 2009) 1022-1028. 

The synthesis of required imidazolium salt l-decyl-2-methyl-3-octadecylimidazolium bromide was achieved by the reaction of l-decyl-2-methylimidazole with octadecyl bromide in ethyl acetate [32]. The contents were first stirred at room temperature for 2 h under nitrogen followed by the increasing of the temperature to 55°C overnight. A white precipitate of imidazolium salt was obtained on cooling, which was filtered, washed extensively with ethyl acetate, and dried at room temperature under reduced pressure. Figure 10.1 shows the chemical structure of the imidazolium salt. 

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