Written by: Dr. Sharbil J. Firsan

The title compound is conveniently prepared in high yield from 1-methylimidazole and dimethyl carbonate.¹  This colorless, crystalline solid serves as a starting material for the facile, room-temperature, one-pot synthesis of the interesting and potentially useful imidazolium-2-phosphane ionic liquids.²

(1) Holbrey, J. D.; Reichert, W. M.; Tkatchenko, I.; Bouajila, E.; Walter, O.; Tommasi, I.; Rogers, R. D. Chem. Commun. 2003, 28.  (2) Azouri, M.; Andrieu, J.; Picquet, M.; Richard, P.; Hanquet, B.; Tkatchenko, I. Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. 2007, 4877.

Written by Daniel Weibel, Ph.D

The use of CBILS©– Carbonate Based Ionic Liquid Synthesis – developed by the austrian company proionic offers one of the simplest, yet most elegant synthetic methods for the production of ionic liquids. With CBILS© it is possible to synthesize 20 or more new ionic liquids per day in a modular and systematic way!

How does CBILS© work?
CBILS© are composed of a typical nitrogen or phosphorus ionic liquid cation and a negatively charged counterpart of a hydrogencarbonate or methylcarbonate anion respectively. When CBILS© are treated with virtually any Brønsted acid the carbonate anion moiety is decomposed to one equivalent of water or methanol and one equivalent of gaseous CO₂.

CBILS© Key Features
· Choose the cation as CBILS© precursor
· Select the anion of choice in the form of the corresponding Brønsted acid
· Calculate the necessary stoichiometry to form the ionic liquid
· Mix the components and stir until CO₂ generation subsides
· Remove the solvent and reaction by-product (water or methanol)

Sigma-Aldrich now offers a selection of eleven CBILS© precursors for the synthesis of imidazolium, ammonium, phosphonium, pyrrolidinium, piperidinium, and morpholinium type ionic liquids in the form of their methylcarbonates and hydrogencarbonates. All CBILS© ionic liquid precursors are delivered in 40 to 60% aqueous or aqueous/methanolic solutions.

For more information incl. complete product listing, visit: sigma-aldrich.com/cbils