Tetrachloroaluminate anion, ionic

Ionic hquids are low melting organic salts that are liquids at ambient temperature. They typically contain quaternary ammonium cations such as l-butyl-3-methylimida-zolium- or N-butylpyridinium- with inorganic anions, such as tetrachloroaluminate or tetrafluoroborate (Chauvin and Helene, 1995 Freemantle, 1998). Melting points for these materials can be near -100°C, and the liquids are often thermally stable at temperatures approaching 200°C. 

Ethylammonium nitrate (entry 18 in Table 3-1) was shown in 1914 to have m.p. 12 °C and was hence the first room temperature ionic Hquid [156] this was followed in 1967 by tetra- -hexylammonium benzoate with m.p. —50 °C (entry 26) [169], Ambient-temperature ionic liquids based on l-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium salts (entries 19-24) were first reported by Wilkes et al. in 1982 as tetrachloroaluminates [162a], Replacement of this moisture-sensitive anion by the tetrafluoroborate ion and other anions led, in 1992, to air- and water-stable, room temperature ionic liquids [162b], which have since found increasing application as reaction media for various kinds of organic reactions, mainly owing to the work of Seddon [167, 190] and Hussey [187], Suitably selected... 

This method is not only limited to halide-based ionic liquids. Synthesis of ionic liquids containing a tetrafluoroborate anion and imidazolium cation has been performed successfully [16] by use of a modified domestic microwave oven with pulsed irradiation (5 x 30 s). Approximately 90% yields of the desired ionic liquids were usually obtained compared with 36% after the same reaction time using conventional heating. Microwave irradiation has been used in the synthesis of l-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium benzoate and dialkyl imidazolium tetrachloroaluminate ionic liquids [17, 18]. These reactions were again performed in a domestic microwave oven using pulsed irradiation. 

There has been a wide range of anions that have been used for the construction of ionic liquids. Historically, anions such as tetrachloroaluminate, which are highly reactive with water and other hydroxylic species, were involved for the construction of ionic hquids that were reasonably fluid at temperatures below 100°C. Unfortunately, tetrachloroaluminate is... 

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