Synthesis of Different Types of Ionic Liquids Using Conventional and Novel Methods

Abstract

Ionic liquids (ILs) have recently attracted significant attention from academic and industrial sources. This is because, while their vapor pressures are negligible, many of them are liquids at room temperature and can dissolve a wide range of polar and non polar organic and inorganic molecules. Ionic liquids are not new; some of them have been known for many years, for instance [EtNH3]- [NO3], which has a melting point of 12 °C, was first described in 1914, For some time, it has been proposed that these ionic liquids provide a useful extension to the range of solvents that are available for synthetic chemistry. There are two basic methods for the preparation of ionic liquids: metathesis of a halide salt with, for instance, a silver, group 1 metal or ammonium salt of the desired anion and acid base neutralization reactions. To ensure the purity and completion of reaction of the ionic liquids, they were used the molecular solvents like acetonitrile, tetrahydro- furan and may be other appropriate solvents. In this Account, we discuss the progress of our laboratory in understanding the synthesis of different types of ionic liquids using conventional, cost effective and novel methods in which molecular solvents are replaced by ionic liquid itself.