8 Commercial Production of Ionic Liquids
207
If the non-negligible success of ionic liquids is to be extended to other fields,
manufacturers must support the scientific community not only with technical data
but also with information from life cycle analysis (LCA) on their CO 2 footprint and
their overall environmental impact. This will give researchers motivation and also
arguments to justify and to promote their work in the future.
8.4 Conclusions
In the world of chemistry, ionic liquids are today not a footnote anymore. Nevertheless, if we look back to the predictions made in the years 2000–2005 concerning
their future role, many of them have not been fulfilled. On the other hand, several
smaller applications not foreseen earlier are now being developed.
Therefore, typical production capacity today is producing on a scale from kilograms to a few metric tons—but not more, and the technologies described in this
chapter are optimized for handling such amounts. It is also obvious that an overview
of commercial production methods cannot be complete at this point because most
manufacturers will not give a detailed insight into their procedures.
From a personal point of view, we are currently witnessing a number of applications under development. The question is—will ionic liquids become a major
technology with significant increases in production volumes or will ionic liquids
only be used at small scale in niche applications?
Sometimes the answer will be influenced by price, sometimes the decision will
be influenced by people who are in a position to explain to the decision makers the
added value, and in a few cases regulatory issues will lead to the use of ionic liquids
in new markets. Let’s wait and see!
References
1. Slattery JM, Daguenet C, Dyson PJ, Schubert TJS, Krossing I (2007) How to predict the properties of ionic liquids: a volume-based approach. Angew Chem 119:5480. https://doi.org/10.1002/
ange.200700941
2. Information by IOLITEC Ionic Liquids Technologies GmbH, Heilbronn, Germany
3. Wasserscheid P, Schulz P (2008) Transition metal catalysis in ionic liquids, Chap 5.3. In: Wasserscheid P, Welton T (eds) Ionic liquids in synthesis, 2 nd edn. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, p 369ff.
https://doi.org/10.1002/9783527621194
4. Endres F, Abbott A, MacFarlane D (eds) (2017) Electrodeposition from ionic liquids, 2 nd edn.
Wiley-VCH, Weinheim. https://doi.org/10.1002/9783527682706
5. Debus H (1858) Ueber die Einwirkung des Ammoniaks auf Glyoxal. Justus Liebigs Ann Chem
107(2):199. https://doi.org/10.1002/jlac.18581070209
6. Radziszewski B (1882) Ueber Glyoxalin und seine Homologe. Ber Dtsch Chem Ges
15(29):2706. https://doi.org/10.1002/cber.188201502245
7. Arduengo III AJ, Gentry Jr. FP, Taverkere PK, Simmons III HE (2001) Process for manufacture
of imidazoles. US patent 6,177,575, issued 23 Jan 2001
207
If the non-negligible success of ionic liquids is to be extended to other fields,
manufacturers must support the scientific community not only with technical data
but also with information from life cycle analysis (LCA) on their CO 2 footprint and
their overall environmental impact. This will give researchers motivation and also
arguments to justify and to promote their work in the future.
8.4 Conclusions
In the world of chemistry, ionic liquids are today not a footnote anymore. Nevertheless, if we look back to the predictions made in the years 2000–2005 concerning
their future role, many of them have not been fulfilled. On the other hand, several
smaller applications not foreseen earlier are now being developed.
Therefore, typical production capacity today is producing on a scale from kilograms to a few metric tons—but not more, and the technologies described in this
chapter are optimized for handling such amounts. It is also obvious that an overview
of commercial production methods cannot be complete at this point because most
manufacturers will not give a detailed insight into their procedures.
From a personal point of view, we are currently witnessing a number of applications under development. The question is—will ionic liquids become a major
technology with significant increases in production volumes or will ionic liquids
only be used at small scale in niche applications?
Sometimes the answer will be influenced by price, sometimes the decision will
be influenced by people who are in a position to explain to the decision makers the
added value, and in a few cases regulatory issues will lead to the use of ionic liquids
in new markets. Let’s wait and see!
References
1. Slattery JM, Daguenet C, Dyson PJ, Schubert TJS, Krossing I (2007) How to predict the properties of ionic liquids: a volume-based approach. Angew Chem 119:5480. https://doi.org/10.1002/
ange.200700941
2. Information by IOLITEC Ionic Liquids Technologies GmbH, Heilbronn, Germany
3. Wasserscheid P, Schulz P (2008) Transition metal catalysis in ionic liquids, Chap 5.3. In: Wasserscheid P, Welton T (eds) Ionic liquids in synthesis, 2 nd edn. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, p 369ff.
https://doi.org/10.1002/9783527621194
4. Endres F, Abbott A, MacFarlane D (eds) (2017) Electrodeposition from ionic liquids, 2 nd edn.
Wiley-VCH, Weinheim. https://doi.org/10.1002/9783527682706
5. Debus H (1858) Ueber die Einwirkung des Ammoniaks auf Glyoxal. Justus Liebigs Ann Chem
107(2):199. https://doi.org/10.1002/jlac.18581070209
6. Radziszewski B (1882) Ueber Glyoxalin und seine Homologe. Ber Dtsch Chem Ges
15(29):2706. https://doi.org/10.1002/cber.188201502245
7. Arduengo III AJ, Gentry Jr. FP, Taverkere PK, Simmons III HE (2001) Process for manufacture
of imidazoles. US patent 6,177,575, issued 23 Jan 2001