Ionic liquids are pretty self explanatory; they are ionic materials in a liquid state. In a ‘normal’ liquid, interactions are usually governed by Van de Waals or H-bonding forces. In ionic liquids it is ionic bonding interactions which dominate, meaning ionic liquids possess some interesting and unique properties.
The field of ionic liquids grew after Paul Walden’s observations of ethylammonium nitrate in 1914,1 since then the study and use of ionic liquids has grown phenomenally, with applications in analytics, biology, electrochemistry, physical chemistry, engineering, solvents and catalysis.
The academic and industrial interest in ionic liquids has thrown up some remarkable discoveries, particularly in recent years, so to keep you up to date with latest break-through research in the field we have collected these high quality articles which are free to access!*
Selective hydrogenation of cyclohexenone on iron–ruthenium nano-particles suspended in ionic liquids and CO2-expanded ionic liquids Jean-Michel Andanson, Stefan Marx and Alfons Baiker, Catal. Sci. Technol., 2012, 2, 1403-1409
Ionic liquids in confined geometries Susan Perkin, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2012, 14, 5052-5062
Processing of metals and metal oxides using ionic liquids Andrew P. Abbott, Gero Frisch, Jennifer Hartley and Karl S. Ryder, Green Chem., 2011, 13, 471-481
Recent advances of ionic liquids in separation science and mass spectrometry Manishkumar D. Joshi and Jared L. Anderson, RSC Adv., 2012, 2, 5470-5484
Enzymatic synthesis of sugar fatty acid esters in ionic liquids Zhen Yang and Ze-Lin Huang, Catal. Sci. Technol., 2012, Advance Article
Proton transfer and polarity changes in ionic liquid–water mixtures: a perspective on hydrogen bonds from ab initio molecular dynamics at the example of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate–water mixtures—Part 1 Martin Brehm, Henry Weber, Alfonso S. Pensado, Annegret Stark and Barbara Kirchner, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2012, 14, 5030-5044
Aqueous biphasic systems composed of a water-stable ionic liquid + carbohydrates and their applications Mara G. Freire, Cláudia L. S. Louros, Luís Paulo N. Rebelo and João A. P. Coutinho, Green Chem., 2011, 13, 1536-1545
Cellulose solubilities in carboxylate-based ionic liquids Bin Zhao, Lasse Greiner and Walter Leitner, RSC Adv., 2012, 2, 2476-2479
Highly selective formation of 2,6-dimethylnaphthalene in HCl-modified triethylamine–aluminum chloride ionic liquid Linfei Xiao, Dan Liu, Min Xu and Wei Wu, Catal. Sci. Technol., 2012, 2, 1259-1263
Recent developments in the study of ionic liquid interfaces using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and potential future directions Hans-Peter Steinrück, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2012, 14, 5010-5029
Desulfurization and denitrogenation of gasoline and diesel fuels by means of ionic liquids, Antje R. Hansmeier, G. Wytze Meindersma and André B. de Haan, Green Chem., 2011, 13, 1907-1913
Ionic liquids designed for advanced applications in bioelectrochemistry Kyoko Fujita, Kenichi Murata, Miyuki Masuda, Nobuhumi Nakamura and Hiroyuki Ohno, RSC Adv., 2012, 2, 4018-4030
In situ generated palladium nanoparticles in imidazolium-based ionic liquids: a versatile medium for an efficient and selective partial biodiesel hydrogenation Myller S. Carvalho, Raísa A. Lacerda, João P. B. Leão, Jackson D. Scholten, Brenno A. D. Neto and Paulo A. Z. Suarez, Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, 1, 480-488
Influence of the ionic liquid/gas surface on ionic liquid chemistry Kevin R. J. Lovelock, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2012, 14, 5071-5089
Design of ionic liquids: an ecotoxicity (Vibrio fischeri) discrimination approach Manuel Alvarez-Guerra and Angel Irabien, Green Chem., 2011, 13, 1507-1516
Dramatically improved friction reduction and wear resistance by in situ formed ionic liquids Mingjin Fan, Yongmin Liang, Feng Zhou and Weimin Liu, RSC Adv., 2012, Advance Article
C–S cross-coupling of thiols with aryl iodides under ligand-free conditions using nano copper oxide as a recyclable catalyst in ionic liquid Ricardo S. Schwab, Devender Singh, Eduardo E. Alberto, Paulo Piquini, Oscar E. D. Rodrigues and Antonio L. Braga, Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, 1, 569-573
New insights into the interface between a single-crystalline metal electrode and an extremely pure ionic liquid: slow interfacial processes and the influence of temperature on interfacial dynamics Marcel Drüschler, Natalia Borisenko, Jens Wallauer, Christian Winter, Benedikt Huber, Frank Endres and Bernhard Roling, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2012, 14, 5090-5099
Rapid and efficient protic ionic liquid-mediated pinacol rearrangements under microwave irradiation Luke C. Henderson and Nolene Byrne, Green Chem., 2011, 13, 813-816
CO2 chemistry: task-specific ionic liquids for CO2 capture/activation and subsequent conversion Zhen-Zhen Yang, Ya-Nan Zhao and Liang-Nian He, RSC Adv., 2011, 1, 545-567
Efficient microwave-assisted production of furfural from C5 sugars in aqueous media catalysed by Brönsted acidic ionic liquids Juan Carlos Serrano-Ruiz, Juan M. Campelo, Matteo Francavilla, Antonio A. Romero, Rafael Luque, Carmen Menéndez-Vázquez, Ana B. García and Eduardo J. García-Suárez, Catal. Sci. Technol., 2012, Advance Article
How ionic liquids can help to stabilize native proteins Hermann Weingärtner , Chiara Cabrele and Christian Herrmann, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2012, 14, 415-426
Direct conversion of glucose to 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural in ionic liquids with lanthanide catalysts Tim Stahlberg, Mathilde Grau Sørensen and Anders Riisager, Green Chem., 2010, 12, 321-325
Switchable Ionic liquids (SILs) based on glycerol and acid gases Ikenna Anugwom, Päivi Mäki-Arvela, Pasi Virtanen, Pia Damlin, Rainer Sjöholm and Jyri-Pekka Mikkola, RSC Adv., 2011, 1, 452-457
Efficient synthesis of cyclic carbonate from carbon dioxide using polymer anchored diol functionalized ionic liquids as a highly active heterogeneous catalyst Rahul A. Watile, Krishna M. Deshmukh, Kishor P. Dhake and Bhalchandra M. Bhanage, Catal. Sci. Technol., 2012, 2, 1051-1055
Interface properties of ionic liquids containing metal ions: features and potentialities Cinzia Chiappe, Christian Silvio Pomelli, Ugo Bardi and Stefano Caporali, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2012, 14, 5045-5051
The effect of the ionic liquid anion in the pretreatment of pine wood chips Agnieszka Brandt, Jason P. Hallett, David J. Leak, Richard J. Murphy and Tom Welton, Green Chem., 2010, 12, 672-679
Brownian dynamics determine universality of charge transport in ionic liquids J. R. Sangoro, M. Mierzwa, C. Iacob, M. Paluch and F. Kremer, RSC Adv., 2012, 2, 5047-5050
Intrinsic catalytic activity of an acidic ionic liquid as a solvent for quinazoline synthesis Vikas S. Patil, Vikas S. Padalkar, Amol S. Chaudhari and N. Sekar, Catal. Sci. Technol., 2012, Advance Article
Towards large-scale, fully ab initio calculations of ionic liquids Ekaterina I. Izgorodina, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2011, 13, 4189-4207
Enzymes in neoteric solvents: From one-phase to multiphase systems Pedro Lozano, Green Chem., 2010, 12, 555-569
Exploiting the use of ionic liquids to access phosphorodiamidites Kerri Crossey, Christopher Hardacre, Marie E. Migaud and Sarah E. Norman, RSC Adv., 2012, 2, 2988-2993
Also check out this highly cited review from Chem. Soc. Rev.
Applications of ionic liquids in the chemical industry Natalia V. Plechkova and Kenneth R. Seddon, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2008, 37, 123-150
If you’re interested in ionic liquids you should also check out the CrystEngComm Collection ‘Crystal engineering with ionic liquids’, the ChemComm web themed issue ‘Ionic liquids’ and the PCCP themed issue ‘Interfaces of ionic liquids’.
You can also check out Catalysis Science & Technology, Green Chemistry, PCCP and RSC Advances for more cutting edge research covering a full range of scientific disciplines.
And keep up to date with the latest issue of any RSC journal by signing up to our e-alert service or follow your favourite publications on twitter!
1 P. Walden, Bull. Acad. Imper. Sci. St. Petersbourg, 1914, 8, 405–422.
*The articles in this post published in Catalysis Science & Technology and RSC Advances are free to download. The articles in this post published in Green Chemistry, PCCP and Chem. Soc. Rev. will be free to download until 8th August 2012 only.
