Olefin ionic liquids

To date a number of reactions have been carried out in ionic liquids [for examples, see Dell Anna et al. J Chem Soc, Chem Commun 434 2002 Nara, Harjani and Salunkhe Tetrahedron Lett 43 1127 2002 Semeril et al. J Chem Soc Chem Commun 146 2002 Buijsman, van Vuuren and Sterrenburg Org Lett 3 3785 2007]. These include Diels-Alder reactions, transition-metal mediated catalysis, e.g. Heck and Suzuki coupling reactions, and olefin metathesis reactions. An example of ionic liquid acceleration of reactions carried out on solid phase is given by Revell and Ganesan [Org Lett 4 3071 2002]. 

The oxidation of alkenes and allylic alcohols with the urea-EL202 adduct (UELP) as oxidant and methyltrioxorhenium (MTO) dissolved in [EMIM][BF4] as catalyst was described by Abu-Omar et al. [61]. Both MTO and UHP dissolved completely in the ionic liquid. Conversions were found to depend on the reactivity of the olefin and the solubility of the olefinic substrate in the reactive layer. In general, the reaction rates of the epoxidation reaction were found to be comparable to those obtained in classical solvents. 

Olivier-Bourbigou s group, for example, has recently shown that phosphite ligands can be used in Rh-catalyzed hydroformylation in ionic liquids as well as the well loiown phosphine systems [81]. Since phosphite ligands are usually unstable in aqueous media, this adds (apart from the much better solubility of higher olefins in... 

The Ni-catalyzed oligomerization of olefins in ionic liquids requires a careful choice of the ionic liquid s acidity. In basic melts (Table 5.2-2, entry (a)), no dimerization activity is observed. FFere, the basic chloride ions prevent the formation of free coordination sites on the nickel catalyst. In acidic chloroaluminate melts, an oligomerization reaction takes place even in the absence of a nickel catalyst (entry (b)). FFowever, no dimers are produced, but a mixture of different oligomers is... 

It was recently demonstrated in the author s group that the use of hexafiuo-rophosphate ionic liquids allows, for the first time, selective, biphasic oligomerization of ethylene to 1-olefins with the aid of the cationic Ni-complex [(mall)Ni(dppmo)][SbF6] (Scheme 5.2-22) [25, 107]. 

In addition to the applications reported in detail above, a number of other transition metal-catalyzed reactions in ionic liquids have been carried out with some success in recent years, illustrating the broad versatility of the methodology. Butadiene telomerization [34], olefin metathesis [110], carbonylation [111], allylic alkylation [112] and substitution [113], and Trost-Tsuji-coupling [114] are other examples of high value for synthetic chemists. 

A comparison of the solubility of a.-olefins with increasing numbers of carbon atoms in water and in [BMIM][BF4] (Figure 5.3-2), shows that olefins are at least 100 times more soluble in the ionic liquid than in water. 

Flowever, information concerning the characteristics of these systems under the conditions of a continuous process is still very limited. From a practical point of view, the concept of ionic liquid multiphasic catalysis can be applicable only if the resultant catalytic lifetimes and the elution losses of catalytic components into the organic or extractant layer containing products are within commercially acceptable ranges. To illustrate these points, two examples of applications mn on continuous pilot operation are described (i) biphasic dimerization of olefins catalyzed by nickel complexes in chloroaluminates, and (ii) biphasic alkylation of aromatic hydrocarbons with olefins and light olefin alkylation with isobutane, catalyzed by acidic chloroaluminates. 

The use of acidic chloroaluminates as alternative liquid acid catalysts for the allcy-lation of light olefins with isobutane, for the production of high octane number gasoline blending components, is also a challenge. This reaction has been performed in a continuous flow pilot plant operation at IFP [44] in a reactor vessel similar to that used for dimerization. The feed, a mixture of olefin and isobutane, is pumped continuously into the well stirred reactor containing the ionic liquid catalyst. In the case of ethene, which is less reactive than butene, [pyridinium]Cl/AlCl3 (1 2 molar ratio) ionic liquid proved to be the best candidate (Table 5.3-4). 

Volume of olefin/(volume of ionic liquid.hour). i-C = 2,2- and 2,3-dimethylbutanes, i-Cg = isooctanes, TMP trimethylpentanes, = hydrocarbon products with more than eight carbon atoms, Light ends = hydrocarbon products with fewer than eight carbon atoms, RON = research octane number, MON = motor octane number... 

To be applied industrially, performances must be superior to those of existing catalytic systems (activity, regioselectivity, and recyclability). The use of ionic liquid biphasic technology for nickel-catalyzed olefin dimerization proved to be successful. 

Studies on the dimerization and hydrogenation of olefins with transition metal catalysts in acidic chloroaluminate(III) ionic liquids report the formation of higher molecular weight fractions consistent with cationic initiation [L7, 20, 27, 28]. These... 

The previous sections show that certain ionic liquids, namely the chloroalumi-nate(III) ionic liquids, are capable of acting both as catalyst and as solvent for the polymerization of certain olefins, although in a somewhat uncontrolled manner, and that other ionic liquids, namely the non-chloroaluminate(III) ionic liquids, are capable of acting as solvents for free radical polymerization processes. In attempts to carry out polymerization reactions in a more controlled manner, several studies have used dissolved transition metal catalysts in ambient-temperature ionic liquids and have investigated the compatibility of the catalyst towards a range of polymerization systems. 

A related study used the air- and moisture-stable ionic liquids [RMIM][PFg] (R = butyl-decyl) as solvents for the oligomerization of ethylene to higher a-olefins [49]. The reaction used the cationic nickel complex 2 (Figure 7.4-1) under biphasic conditions to give oligomers of up to nine repeat units, with better selectivity and reactivity than obtained in conventional solvents. Recycling of the catalyst/ionic liquid solution was possible with little change in selectivity, and only a small drop in activity was observed. 

The use of the ionic liquid [bmim][BF4] further improved the Burgess epoxidation system [70]. Chan and coworkers found that replacement of sodium bicarbonate for tetramethylammonium bicarbonate and performing the reaction in [hmim][BF4] allowed for efficient epoxidation of a number of different olefins, including substrates affording acid-labile epoxides (such as dihydronaphthalene (99% yield) and 1-phenylcyclohexene (80% yield)). 

Olefin UHP[bl SPC[cl BTSP[dl UHP[el ionic liquid H202[fl CF3CH2OH H202[s (CF3)2CHOH... 

Olefin dimerisation with Ni-NHC complexes became a topic of interest following reports of Ni(II) phosphine complexes being employed in imidazolium-based ionic liquid solvents [23, 24]. It had previonsly been established that aIkyl-Ni(II) complexes containing NHC ligands can rapidly decompose via imidazolium formation (Scheme 4.1) [5], and it was thus of interest to explore the effect that an excess of the imidazolinm cation would have on this reaction. 

Rhodium catalyzed carbonylations of olefins and methanol can be operated in the absence of an alkyl iodide or hydrogen iodide if the carbonylation is operated in the presence of iodide-based ionic liquids. In this chapter, we will describe the historical development of these non-alkyl halide containing processes beginning with the carbonylation of ethylene to propionic acid in which the omission of alkyl hahde led to an improvement in the selectivity. We will further describe extension of the nonalkyl halide based carbonylation to the carbonylation of MeOH (producing acetic acid) in both a batch and continuous mode of operation. In the continuous mode, the best ionic liquids for carbonylation of MeOH were based on pyridinium and polyalkylated pyridinium iodide derivatives. Removing the highly toxic alkyl halide represents safer, potentially lower cost, process with less complex product purification. 

Cationic polymerization of alkenes and alkene derivatives has been carried out frequently in aqueous media.107 On the other hand, the reaction of simple olefins with aldehydes in the presence of an acid catalyst is referred to as the Prins reaction.108 The reaction can be carried out by using an aqueous solution of the aldehyde, often resulting in a mixture of carbon-carbon bond formation products.109 Recently, Li and co-workers reported a direct formation of tetrahydropyranol derivatives in water using a cerium-salt catalyzed cyclization in aqueous ionic liquids (Eq. 3.24).110... 

Nevertheless, the application of ionic liquids in the liquid-liquid, biphasic Rh-catalysed hydroformylation offers technically interesting advantages vs. the traditional aqueous biphasic catalysis e.g. much higher solubility for longer chain olefins and the compatibility of the ionic liquid with phosphite ligands [51]. 

To date, several reports have been published dealing with the non-stereoselec-tive hydrogenation of olefins in a liquid-liquid biphasic system containing ionic liquids [69-72]. 

Oligomeric products, obtaining, 16 106 Oligomeric titanates, pyrolysis of, 25 121 Oligomerization, 23 329 acetylene, 1 181 butadiene, 4 373-374 in higher olefins, 17 712 ionic liquids in, 26 885-887 olefin, 16 111... 

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