Chapter 3
Continuous Catalytic Processes
with Supported Ionic Liquid Phase
(SILP) Materials
Marco Haumann
Abstract The concept of supported ionic liquid phase (SILP) materials offers many
attractive features for continuous catalytic processes. Due to the extremely low
volatility of the ionic liquid, homogenous catalysts can be immobilized and applied in
gas-phase reactions without the need for elaborating separations or recycling strategies. The concept has been developed since 2003, and this chapter highlights the
current status of the technology. No large-scale commercial process has been established, but several examples exist at the demonstration level for hydroformylation,
water-gas shift, and even asymmetric hydrogenation.
Keywords Catalysis · Supported ionic liquid phase · Continuous processes ·
Industrialization · Pilot plants
3.1 Introduction
Catalysts can help achieve sustainable chemical production by preventing undesired
by-product formation and lowering the energy consumption due to milder reaction
conditions. Well-defined homogeneous transition metal complexes and biocatalysts
allow high selectivity and mild reaction conditions [1]. However, the often tedious
and energy-consuming separation of these catalysts from the reaction mixture hampers the implementation of these benign systems in industry. Numerous techniques
have been developed to immobilize or heterogenize these liquid catalysts [2, 3]. An
interesting field of immobilization is the use of supported ionic liquid phase (SILP)
materials [4]. In these systems, the ionic liquid is dispersed on a solid support, and
the dissolved catalyst complex can act truly homogeneous on a microscopic level
[5–8]. On the macroscopic level, the material is a powder or pellet and can easily
be separated from the reaction mixture. Since the ionic liquid has a negligible vapor
pressure under reaction conditions, it allows continuous gas-phase operation. The
M. Haumann (B)
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Lehrstuhl für Chemische
Reaktionstechnik (CRT), Egerlandstr. 3, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
e-mail: marco.haumann@fau.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_3
49
Continuous Catalytic Processes
with Supported Ionic Liquid Phase
(SILP) Materials
Marco Haumann
Abstract The concept of supported ionic liquid phase (SILP) materials offers many
attractive features for continuous catalytic processes. Due to the extremely low
volatility of the ionic liquid, homogenous catalysts can be immobilized and applied in
gas-phase reactions without the need for elaborating separations or recycling strategies. The concept has been developed since 2003, and this chapter highlights the
current status of the technology. No large-scale commercial process has been established, but several examples exist at the demonstration level for hydroformylation,
water-gas shift, and even asymmetric hydrogenation.
Keywords Catalysis · Supported ionic liquid phase · Continuous processes ·
Industrialization · Pilot plants
3.1 Introduction
Catalysts can help achieve sustainable chemical production by preventing undesired
by-product formation and lowering the energy consumption due to milder reaction
conditions. Well-defined homogeneous transition metal complexes and biocatalysts
allow high selectivity and mild reaction conditions [1]. However, the often tedious
and energy-consuming separation of these catalysts from the reaction mixture hampers the implementation of these benign systems in industry. Numerous techniques
have been developed to immobilize or heterogenize these liquid catalysts [2, 3]. An
interesting field of immobilization is the use of supported ionic liquid phase (SILP)
materials [4]. In these systems, the ionic liquid is dispersed on a solid support, and
the dissolved catalyst complex can act truly homogeneous on a microscopic level
[5–8]. On the macroscopic level, the material is a powder or pellet and can easily
be separated from the reaction mixture. Since the ionic liquid has a negligible vapor
pressure under reaction conditions, it allows continuous gas-phase operation. The
M. Haumann (B)
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Lehrstuhl für Chemische
Reaktionstechnik (CRT), Egerlandstr. 3, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
e-mail: marco.haumann@fau.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_3
49