Halide-Free Continuous Synthesis of Hydrophobic Ionic Liquids

Herein, we present a novel approach for the halide-free, continuous-flow preparation of hydrophobic ionic liquids (ILs) relying on the bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (bistriflimide, NTf₂ ^-) anion. The simple yet fast two-step synthetic route, which involves the formation of different alkyl bistriflimides (R⁴NTf₂), followed by the quaternization with an amine nucleophile, led to the desired ILs in high yields and excellent purities without any byproduct formation. The variable alkyl chain (R⁴) length and the broad range of the applicable nucleophiles (R¹R²R³N) offer considerable flexibility to the synthetic protocol. The quaternization can be performed under solvent-free conditions; moreover, the homogeneous nature of these reactions allows the application of modern continuous-flow technologies. Given these advantages, the methodology can afford not just a fast and efficient alternative for the conventional synthesis of such compounds with reduced waste water production but their negligible halide content might provide a significantly broader application range of the IL products, especially for the field of materials science.