Interactions, Dynamics and Structure in the Ionic Liquid-scCO2 system

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Walter Leitner
• Subject Area: Technical Chemistry ; Physical Chemistry of Molecules, Liquids and Interfaces, Biophysical Chemistry
• Term: from 2006 to 2011
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 29344727

The proposed project aims at a knowledge-based understanding of the interactions, structure and dynamics of ionic liquid based reactive systems in the presence of compressed carbon dioxide. There is currently no systematic study of how the presence of compressed carbon dioxide (CO2) affects the interaction of ionic liquids (ILs) with dissolved substrates, catalysts, or products. At the moment there is even a lack of knowledge about how the solubility of CO2 in different ILs can be correlated with the structures of anions and cations. Moreover, it is still unknown if the solubility of reactive gases (such as hydrogen, ethylene, oxygen, etc.) follow the same trends and are based on the same interactions in neat ILs and in the presence of compressed CO2. Furthermore, a detailed investigation of the effect of compressed CO2 on the performance of various catalytic systems in ILs (e.g. selectivity, reactivity) is still missing. To address these questions, the system IL/CO2 will be extensively studied in this project with IR and NMR spectroscopic techniques, and with selected catalytic test-reactions as molecular probes. The outcome of these investigations will then provide the essential information to rationally exploit the unique properties of the IL/CO2 system and may ultimately lead to the design of task-specific ILs for catalytic reactions in combination with compressed or supercritical CO2.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1191: Ionic Liquids