Ionic Liquids

The synthesis, purification and characterization of ionic liquids is reviewed. The major synthetic routes to low melting ionic salts are described in detail. The intrinsic properties of ionic liquids make purification difficult and therefore a special emphasis is placed on currently employed purification methodologies. Synthetic methods which are designed to avoid specific impurities are also discussed. For the same reasons highlighted above characterization of ionic liquids presents unique challenges; the available methods and some of the issues of their use are also reviewed.

Understanding the ways in which the constituents of ionic liquids, i.e. the type of cation, its substitution, and the type of anion chosen, interact with reactants is prerequisite to deliberately designing an ionic liquid solvent with optimum performance. Several approaches, including physico-chemical and spectroscopic measurements and computational studies of binary ionic liquid-substrate mixtures have been presented that investigate the strength of interactions.

The qualitative order of the basicity (hydrogen bond acceptor potential) of anions as most prominent force is already reasonably well understood, and reliably determined using, e.g. selective solvatochromic dyes. In certain reactions, the relative order of basicity correlates well with the reactivity of substrates. However, the determination of a relative order for the cations is still in its infancy. Owing to the fact that potential cation-derived interactions may not solely be due to hydrogen bond interactions, but also to ion pair interactions (electron pair donor/acceptor properties), the relative magnitudes of interactions between the anion and cation vary considerably – even in the absence of solutes – depending on the experimental method. In addition, it appears that the basicity of the anion superimposes in many instances on the effects exhibited by the cation and/or the cation’s substituent. Hence, understanding the effect of the cation on the activation of substrates is still a challenge.

This chapter aims at summarising the trends observed for binary model systems in experimental and computational investigations, and drawing conclusions about ionic liquid structure-induced effects relevant to organic reactions, in particular nucleophilic substitution reactions.

Task specific ionic liquids (TSILs), or more generally task specific onium salts (TSOSs), can be defined as an association of a cation and anion, one at least being organic, to which has covalently been attached through a linker a function that confers the assembly a specific task. After presentation of the general concept of TSILs and TSOSs, the different methods of preparation of these compounds are developed. Regarding their applications in chemistry, TSILs and TSOSs can be used as soluble supports for reagents and catalysts in multiphasic reactions, enabling high activity and easy recovery of the supported agent. However, additionally, they can be used as soluble supports for organic synthesis in a similar manner to resins and offer several advantages over traditional methods.

Heavy elements have in the recent past been studied extensively in the context of ionic liquids (ILs). This is because ILs have initially been thought of as “solve-it-all” problem solvers, from catalysis, to extraction, and inorganic and electrochemistry. In due course, it has been shown that ILs are indeed very versatile solvents and reaction media. As a consequence, many elements have been dissolved in ILs and their properties have been studied in IL solution. The current chapter focuses on the use of ILs for inorganic chemistry, in particular on what heavy elements have been studied in ILs, their properties and applications.

The high degree of organisation in the fluid phase of room-temperature ionic liquids has major consequences on their macroscopic properties, namely on their behaviour as solvents. This nanoscale self-organisation is the result of an interplay between two types of interaction in the liquid phase – Coulomb and van der Waals – that eventually leads to the formation of medium-range structures and the recognition of some ionic liquids as composed of a high-charge density, cohesive network permeated by low-charge density regions.

In this chapter, the structure of the ionic liquids will be explored and some of their consequences to the properties of ionic liquids analyzed.

Low melting point salts which are often classified as ionic liquids have received significant attention from research groups and industry for a range of novel applications. Many of these require a thorough knowledge of the thermophysical properties of the pure fluids and their mixtures. Despite this need, the necessary experimental data for many properties is scarce and often inconsistent between the various sources. By using accurate data, predictive physical models can be developed which are highly useful and some would consider essential if ionic liquids are to realize their full potential. This is particularly true if one can use them to design new ionic liquids which maximize key desired attributes. Therefore there is a growing interest in the ability to predict the physical properties and behavior of ionic liquids from simple structural information either by using group contribution methods or directly from computer simulations where recent advances in computational techniques are providing insight into physical processes within these fluids. Given the importance of these properties this review will discuss the recent advances in our understanding, prediction and correlation of selected ionic liquid physical properties.

Theoretical investigations of ionic liquids are reviewed. Three main cate-gories are discussed, i.e., static quantum chemical calculations (electronic structure methods), traditional molecular dynamics simulations and first-principles molecular dynamics simulations. Simple models are reviewed in brief.

Ionic liquids have been studied for their special solvent properties in a wide range of processes, including reactions involving carbohydrates such as cellulose and glucose. Biomass is a widely available and renewable resource that is likely to become an economically viable source of starting materials for chemical and fuel production, especially with the price of petroleum set to increase as supplies are diminished. Biopolymers such as cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin may be converted to useful products, either by direct functionalisation of the polymers or depolymerisation to monomers, followed by microbial or chemical conversion to useful chemicals. Major barriers to the effective conversion of biomass currently include the high crystallinity of cellulose, high reactivity of carbohydrates and lignin, insolubility of cellulose in conventional solvents, as well as heterogeneity in the native lignocellulosic materials and in lignin itself. This combination of factors often results in highly heterogeneous depolymerisation products, which make efficient separation difficult. Thus the extraction, depolymerisation and conversion of biopolymers will require novel reaction systems in order to be both economically attractive and environmentally benign. The solubility of biopolymers in ionic liquids is a major advantage of their use, allowing homogeneous reaction conditions, and this has stimulated a growing research effort in this field. This review examines current research involving the use of ionic liquids in biomass reactions, with perspectives on how it relates to green chemistry, economic viability, and conventional biomass processes.