Chapter 8
Commercial Production of Ionic Liquids
Thomas J. S. Schubert
Abstract By 2019, a large number of different ionic liquids (ILs) had been synthesized. There is a large uncertainty about the correct number, but there must be
at least a couple thousand different ones described in the scientific literature and a
similar number in labs of chemical companies. To synthesize ionic liquids, numerous organic and inorganic compounds can be used and combined. A major goal of
chemists who are designing novel ionic liquids is to predict ionic compounds that
may be liquid at room temperature (or are at least liquid below a melting point of
100 °C, which is the common definition for ILs). A lot of experience is necessary to
avoid the synthesis of too many substances that do not have sufficient properties. It is
also possible to use efficient physico-chemical tools to design ionic liquids, such as
the “molecular volume approach” released by Krossing et al. in 2007 [1]. Using this
method, it was possible to predict fundamental data, such as melting points, viscosities, conductivities, and densities, which matched very well with experimental data.
As a consequence, over the past two decades ionic liquids became indeed “designer
solvents” but also “designer electrolytes” and “designer (functional) materials.” Powerful tools combined with experience made it possible after more than 20 years of
intensive research in many fields for ionic liquids to become industrially important
products. As a consequence, the importance of methods for the commercial production became more and more relevant. This overview for understandable reasons
cannot be complete because the producers of ionic liquids are surely using numerous
lab secrets and non-published information for their processes. Thus, in this chapter,
the most prominently known production methods are summarized.
Keywords Commercial production · Environmental impact · Life cycle analysis
and costing · Microreaction technology · Regulatory issues
T. J. S. Schubert (B)
IOLITEC Ionic Liquids Technologies GmbH, Salzstrasse 184, 74076 Heilbronn, Germany
e-mail: schubert@iolitec.de
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
M. B. Shiflett (ed.), Commercial Applications of Ionic Liquids, Green Chemistry
and Sustainable Technology, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35245-5_8
191
Commercial Production of Ionic Liquids
Thomas J. S. Schubert
Abstract By 2019, a large number of different ionic liquids (ILs) had been synthesized. There is a large uncertainty about the correct number, but there must be
at least a couple thousand different ones described in the scientific literature and a
similar number in labs of chemical companies. To synthesize ionic liquids, numerous organic and inorganic compounds can be used and combined. A major goal of
chemists who are designing novel ionic liquids is to predict ionic compounds that
may be liquid at room temperature (or are at least liquid below a melting point of
100 °C, which is the common definition for ILs). A lot of experience is necessary to
avoid the synthesis of too many substances that do not have sufficient properties. It is
also possible to use efficient physico-chemical tools to design ionic liquids, such as
the “molecular volume approach” released by Krossing et al. in 2007 [1]. Using this
method, it was possible to predict fundamental data, such as melting points, viscosities, conductivities, and densities, which matched very well with experimental data.
As a consequence, over the past two decades ionic liquids became indeed “designer
solvents” but also “designer electrolytes” and “designer (functional) materials.” Powerful tools combined with experience made it possible after more than 20 years of
intensive research in many fields for ionic liquids to become industrially important
products. As a consequence, the importance of methods for the commercial production became more and more relevant. This overview for understandable reasons
cannot be complete because the producers of ionic liquids are surely using numerous
lab secrets and non-published information for their processes. Thus, in this chapter,
the most prominently known production methods are summarized.
Keywords Commercial production · Environmental impact · Life cycle analysis
and costing · Microreaction technology · Regulatory issues
T. J. S. Schubert (B)
IOLITEC Ionic Liquids Technologies GmbH, Salzstrasse 184, 74076 Heilbronn, Germany
e-mail: schubert@iolitec.de
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
M. B. Shiflett (ed.), Commercial Applications of Ionic Liquids, Green Chemistry
and Sustainable Technology, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35245-5_8
191