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Preface The chapters in this book are based on papers that were presented at the symposium Ionic Liquids as Green Solvents: Progress and Prospects at the 224 American Chemical Society (ACS) National Meeting held August 18-22, 2002, in Boston, Massachusetts. It followed, by eighteen months, the first successful ionic liquids symposium at the A C S meeting in April 2001 in San Diego, California. Judging by the presentations and by the symposium attendance (more than 300 at one session), the field is rapidly moving forward with high-quality work, and interest in ionic liquids remains high from both academia and industry. The talks showed the depth of research currently being undertaken, the broad and diverse base for activities, and the excitement and potential opportunities that exist and are continuing to emerge, in the field. Ionic Liquids are now defined as salts that melt below about 100 °C. It should be noted that these salts are not 'defined' as 'green,' and care must be taken when examining materials with unknown toxicity, Biological Oxygen Demand, etc. Ionic liquids define a class of fluids rather than a small group of individual examples: Ionic liquids can be designed to be flammable, unstable, or even toxic. Although this may be obvious to many in the field, it is clear that confusion can occur leading to an implicit assumption that all ionic liquids are always (1) green, (2) non-toxic, and (3) environmentally friendly, or (indeed) the converse. As scientists and engineers, we must continue to present a balanced view of ionic liquids and strive to answer questions regarding the environmental sustainability of their use. The Boston meeting comprised ten half-day sessions that broadly reflected the areas of development and interest in ionic liquids as green th
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solvents for chemistry. We are indebted to the session organizers who each planned and developed a half-day session, invited the speakers, and presided over the session. The featured topics and the presiding organizers for each session were Ionic Liquid Tutorial (K. R. Seddon and R. D . Rogers), Manufacture and Synthesis of Ionic Liquids: Industrial (A. J. Robertson) and Academic (K. R. Seddon), Characterization and Engineering (J. F. Brennecke), Novel Applications of Ionic Liquids (J. D . Holbrey), Separations (R. D . Rogers), Biotechnology (R. A . Sheldon), Catalytic Chemistry (T. Welton), Non-Catalytic Chemistry ( M . J. Earle), Electrochemistry (W. R. Pitner), and Photochemistry and Reaction M e r médiates (C. M . Gordon). Starting with an experience-based series of tutorials on using ionic liquids, which gave the attendees an extended opportunity to ask questions of experienced practitioners in the field, the symposium moved through the manufacture and production of ionic liquids, on both industrial and lab scale, and into the use of ionic liquids as solvents for chemical applications. Page restrictions prevented the publication of all the presentations, but we have tried to select a representative subset of the papers. It is remarkable to think that, since the publication of the first book dedicated to room temperature ionic liquids (Ionic Liquids: Industrial Applications for Green Chemistry, A C S Symposium Series 818; the volume based on the San Diego meeting) in Autumn 2002, two other books have already appeared. The first of these is a multi-authored volume (edited by Peter Wasserscheid and Tom Welton) entitled Ionic Liquids in Synthesis (Wiley, 2003), the second is the proceedings volume (edited by ourselves and Sergei Volkov) of the N A T O A R W held in Crete, the first international meeting on ionic liquids, entitled Green Industrial Applications of Ionic Liquids (Kluwer, 2002). This current volume, therefore, is the fourth book to appear on the subject of ionic liquids within nine months. What is truly remarkable is that very little overlap occurs in content, and that all four books are complementary; i f you need one, you need them all! If this were not enough to reflect the astonishing intensification of interest in the field, Figure 1 illustrates the growth in publications on ionic liquids. If this trend is continued into the future (and the 2002 data were not complete at the time we went to proof), then at least another 500 papers will have appeared by the time this book is published. It can be seen, both by the range and quality of contributions to this symposium volume, and also by the vastly increased volume of publications in the open and patent literature, that significant efforts are being
xiv In Ionic Liquids as Green Solvents; Rogers, R., et al.; ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2003.
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Figure 1: Publications containing the phrase 'ionic liquid' in the title, abstract, or keywords, determined by ISI Web of Science, as a function of time. (Courtesy of Dr. Annegret Stark.)
made in utilizing ionic liquids in green chemistry. It is clear that progress is indeed being made, and that the prospects for the future are good, based on the continuing commitment to excellent and innovative research from both industry and academia that are reflected in the contributions to this volume. For these reasons, we are planning a third symposium in New York, at the Autumn 2003 A C S National Meeting, September 7-11, 2003. This will be the final meeting of the A C S trilogy, by which time we will have (we hope) achieved our aim of communicating the excitement, breadth, and depth of the applications of ionic liquids to an audience with strong representation from academia, industry, and government, with particular emphasis on green industrial applications. We will then be doffing our editorial clothes, hanging up our hats, and passing the gauntlet! This symposium was successful because of the invaluable support it received from industry, academia, government, and our professional society. Industrial support was received from Cytec Industries Inc., Fluka, Merck K G a A , Ozark Fluorine Specialties, S A C H E M Inc., Solvent Innovation, and Strem Chemicals Inc. Academic contributions were received from The University of Alabama Center for Green Manufacturing and The Queen's University Ionic Liquid Laboratory (QUILL).
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Green Chemistry Program also supported the meeting. O f course, we are (as always) indebted to the A C S and its many programs for their help, encouragement, and support. We especially thank the Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Division, the I & E C Separations Science as well as the Technology and Green Chemistry Subdivisions, and the Green Chemistry Institute. A n other measure of success was the impressive strength of the student contributions, in the tutorial, oral, and poster sessions; on this basis, our future is in safe hands. Thank you all for helping maintain a strong program!
Robin D. Rogers Center for Green Manufacturing Box 870336 The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, A L 35487 Telephone: +1 205-348-4323 Fax: +1 205-348-0823 Email:
[email protected] U R L : http://bama.ua.edu/~rdrogers
Kenneth R. Seddon Q U I L L Research Centre The Queen's University of Belfast Stranmillis Road Belfast, Northern Ireland BT9 5 A G United Kingdom Telephone: +44 28 90335420 Fax: +44 28 90665297 Email:
[email protected] U R L : http://quill.qub.ac.uk/
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