Lewis Acid-based Ionic Liquids

1 Compositions of Lewis add-based ionic liquids are generally referred to by the mole frac- 

When [EMIMJCl is present in a molar excess over AICI3, only equilibrium (2.1-1) need be considered, and the ionic liquid is basic. When a molar excess of AICI3 over [EMIMJCl is present on the other hand, an acidic ionic liquid is formed, and equilibria (2.1-2) and (2.1-3) predominate. Further details of the anion species present may be found elsewhere [23]. The chloroaluminates are not the only ionic liquids prepared in this manner. Other Lewis acids employed have included AlEtCl2 [24], BCI3 [25], CuCl [26], and SnCl2 [27]. In general, the preparative methods employed for all of these salts are similar to those indicated for AlCl3-based ionic liquids as outlined below. 

If a drybox is not available, the preparation can also be carried out by use of a dry, unreactive solvent (typically an alkane) as a blanket against hydrolysis. This has been suggested in the patent Hterature as a method for the large-scale industrial preparation of Lewis acid-based ionic liquids, as the solvent also acts as a heat-sink for the exothermic complexation reaction [28]. At the end of the reaction, the ionic Hquid forms an immiscible layer beneath the protecting solvent The ionic liquid may then either be removed by syringe, or else the solvent may be removed by distillation before use. In the former case it is Hkely that the ionic Hquid will be contaminated with traces of the organic solvent, however. 

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Abstract The term Lewis acid catalysts generally refers to metal salts like aluminium chloride, titanium chloride and zinc chloride. Their application in asymmetric catalysis can be achieved by the addition of enantiopure ligands to these salts. However, not only metal centers can function as Lewis acids. Compounds containing carbenium, silyl or phosphonium cations display Lewis acid catalytic activity. In addition, hypervalent compounds based on phosphorus and silicon, inherit Lewis acidity. Furthermore, ionic liquids, organic salts with a melting point below 100 °C, have revealed the ability to catalyze a range of reactions either in substoichiometric amount or, if used as the reaction medium, in stoichiometric or even larger quantities. The ionic liquids can often be efficiently recovered. The catalytic activity of the ionic liquid is explained by the Lewis acidic nature of then-cations. This review covers the survey of known classes of metal-free Lewis acids and their application in catalysis. 

Ionic liquids derived from Lewis acids based on Ti, Nb, Sn, Sb [NR3R ]X/SbE5 Atofma, France 2001 25... 

Acidic chloroaluminate ionic liquids have already been described as both solvents and catalysts for reactions conventionally catalyzed by AICI3, such as catalytic Friedel-Crafts alkylation [35] or stoichiometric Friedel-Crafts acylation [36], in Section 5.1. In a very similar manner, Lewis-acidic transition metal complexes can form complex anions by reaction with organic halide salts. Seddon and co-workers, for example, patented a Friedel-Crafts acylation process based on an acidic chloro-ferrate ionic liquid catalyst [37]. 

Moreover, these experiments reveal some unique properties of the chlorostan-nate ionic liquids. In contrast to other known ionic liquids, the chlorostannate system combine a certain Lewis acidity with high compatibility to functional groups. The first resulted, in the hydroformylation of 1-octene, in the activation of (PPli3)2PtCl2 by a Lewis acid-base reaction with the acidic ionic liquid medium. The high compatibility to functional groups was demonstrated by the catalytic reaction in the presence of CO and hydroformylation products. 

C21-0093. Some pure liquid interhalogen compounds are good electrical conductors, indicating that they contain cations and anions. Show a Lewis acid-base reaction between two bromine trifluoride molecules that would generate ionic species. 

A wide variety of new approaches to the problem of product separation in homogeneous catalysis has been discussed in the preceding chapters. Few of the new approaches has so far been commercialised, with the exceptions of a the use of aqueous biphasic systems for propene hydroformylation (Chapter 5) and the use of a phosphonium based ionic liquid for the Lewis acid catalysed isomerisation of butadiene monoxide to dihydrofuran (see Equation 9.1). This process has been operated by Eastman for the last 8 years without any loss or replenishment of ionic liquid [1], It has the advantage that the product is sufficiently volatile to be distilled from the reactor at the reaction temperature so the process can be run continuously with built in product catalyst separation. Production of lower volatility products by such a process would be more problematic. A side reaction leads to the conversion of butadiene oxide to high molecular weight oligomers. The ionic liquid has been designed to facilitate their separation from the catalyst (see Section 9.7)... 

The salts were investigated in the Diels-Alder reaction of crotonaldehyde with cyclopentadiene (Scheme 67). The yields obtained were between 35% and 40% with an endo. exo ratio of 90 10. The control reaction without the salt at -25 °C gave no product. The observed ee with the enantiopure salt 66 was less than 5%. Nevertheless, this was the first example which showed, that imidazolium-based ionic liquids can be used in substoichiometric amounts as Lewis acid catalysts. 

The Lewis acid-base properties of these ionic liquids are determined by the chloroaluminate species. The equilibrium of the chloroaluminate liquid is primarily described by two equilibria at x AICI3 below 0.67 ... 

Ionic liquids have also been separated into first and second generation liquids [10] where first generation liquids are those based on eutectics and second generation have discrete anions [17]. Others have sought to further divide the first generation liquids into separate types depending on the nature of the Lewis or Bronsted acid that complexes [18]. While there is some dispute whether eutectics with Bransted acids constitute ionic liquids at all there are others who seek to widen the description of ionic liquids to include materials such as salt hydrates [19]. 

The synthesis ofhaloaluminate-based ionic liquids from halide salts and aluminum Lewis acids (most commonly AIX3 X=C1, Br) can generally be split into two steps (i) fomation of the desired cation by the reaction of a trialkylamine, trialkylphosphine or dialkylsulfide with a haloalkane, and (ii) formation of the haloaluminate anion by addition of an appropriate aluminum halide to this salt (Scheme 2.1). 

The ability to vary the composition of Lewis or Bronsted acid adds an additional dimension to the tuneability of the eutectic-based ionic liquids. It has been shown that the Lewis acidity of the liquid affects not only the physical properties of the liquids but also the electrochemical behavior. Type I ionic liquids are also clearly... 

Historically, AlCl j-based ionic liquids were the first to be used for the electrodeposition of metals. As described before, they are easy to synthesize by simple addition of the Lewis acidic AICI3 to a 1,3-dialkyl-imidazolium, alkyl-pyridinium or quaternary ammonium compound under an inert atmosphere. 

It is well known that the chemistry and electrochemistry of many elements are influenced significantly by the Lewis acidity of AICI3-based ionic liquids. 

Hussey et al. carried out an aluminum bulk deposition on copper foil using a Lewis acidic aluminum chloride 1 -ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium chloride-based ionic liquid [9]. The thickness of the observed deposits were in the range 24—30 pm. Without additives the deposits were not shiny and only poorly adherent. The addition of benzene enhanced the quality of the deposit. XRD measurements confirmed that the composition of the deposits was 100% aluminum metal. 

In eutectic-based ionic liquids, the chloride ions act as strong ligands for the oxidized metal ions, forming a range of chlorometallate anions. The free chloride ions are present in very low concentrations as they are complexed with the Lewis acidic metal ions and so the dissolution of metal ions must lead to a complex series of equilibria such as... 

Ionic liquids can be compared to any other liquid in that the reactivity of a species will depend upon its relative activity in solution. To this end it is important to consider the relative Lewis and Bronsted acids that can interact with the solutes to affect their activity. It is also important to remember that ionic liquids with discrete anions have wider potential windows and what we therefore hope to achieve with them is more susceptible to the presence of reactive species. The influence of impurities on the electrochemical behavior of an ionic liquid will depend upon the relative Lewis acidity/basicity of the liquid and of the redox process in question. Eutectic-based ionic liquids behave very differently from ionic liquids with discrete... 

The absorption of species from the atmosphere is common to all electrolyte solutions and clearly the absorption of water is the biggest issue. This is not solely confined to ionic liquids, however, as all electroplaters who deal with aqueous solutions of acids know, if the solution is not heated then the tank will overflow from absorption of atmospheric moisture after some time. In the aqueous acid the inclusion of water is not a major issue as it does not significantly affect the current efficiency or potential window of the solution. Water absorption is also not such a serious issue with eutectic-based ionic liquids and the strong Lewis acids and bases strongly coordinate the water molecules in solution. The presence of up to 1 wt.% water can be tolerated by most eutectic-based systems. Far from having a deleterious effect, water is often beneficial to eutectic-based liquids as it decreases the viscosity, increases the conductivity and can improve the rate of the anodic reaction allowing better surface finishes. Water can even be tolerated in the chloroaluminate liquids to a certain extent [139] and it was recently shown that the presence of trace HQ, that results from hydrolysis of the liquid, is beneficial for the removal of oxide from the aluminum anode [140]. 

Impurities are a lot less problematic for eutectic-based ionic liquids. The strong acid-base nature of these systems leads to predominantly halometallate species which tend to be unaffected by simple salts or other impurities such as water. The strong Lewis acids and bases coordinate well to water and even in the chloroa-luminate systems low amounts of water do not significantly affect voltammetric behavior or have a deleterious effect on deposit morphology. 

Analogous results have been obtained for the Lewis acid/base equilibrium between ionic tropylium azide and covalent 7-azidocycloheptatriene [178]. Again, in less polar solvents such as deuterio-trichloromethane and even [Dgjacetone, no ionization to give the tropylium and azide ions could be detected. Dipolar liquid sulfur dioxide, however, induces complete ionization at low temperature (—70 °C). 

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