Trisubstituted Imidazolium-Based Ionic Liquids

Trisubstituted imidazolium-based ionic liquids are a class of ionic liquids composed of imidazolyl cations. This type of ionic liquid is different from other imidazole ionic liquids in that the H atom on the C atom located between the two N atoms on the imidazole ring is replaced by a substituent. This structure gives the trisubstituted imidazolium-based ionic liquid special properties. It has excellent thermal stability and high melting point, and is mainly used in high temperature systems or active hydrogen sensitive environments.

Figure 1. Chemical structure of trisubstituted imidazole cation

Applications:

• Field of pharmaceutical preparations: Skin absorption enhancer refers to a substance that can accelerate the penetration of the drug through the skin without causing serious irritation and damage to the skin. After adding the trisubstituted imidazolium-based ionic liquid to the microemulsion, the stability of the system is enhanced, and the skin permeability of the drug is significantly improved. For example, 1,2-dibutyl-3-methylimidazole chloride salt has a significant penetration enhancing effect on the insoluble ginsenosides in Panax notoginseng.
• Multifunctional lubricating materials: Among a variety of imidazole ionic liquids, trisubstituted imidazolium-based ionic liquids have good resistance and wear resistance and high load-bearing capacity for steel/steel, steel/aluminum, steel/copper, steel/single crystal silicon, steel/ceramics and other systems. It is a very promising and multifunctional lubricating material. This type of ionic liquid can meet the performance requirements of high viscosity index, high thermal oxidation stability, low volatility, etc., and has good application prospects in the fields of space technology, information technology, and precision machinery.
• Nanomaterials: Nanomaterials have special electrical, optical, mechanical, magnetic and biological properties. In the process of synthesizing nanoporous materials, trisubstituted imidazolium-based ionic liquids can be used as precursors of aerogels of porous materials to form stable and uniform solutions. And the pore structure is synthesized through the assembly mechanism of the sensitivity to hydrogen bonds and the interaction of π-π interaction.

Reference

• Edward Zorębski, Małgorzata Musiał, Karolina Bałuszyńska, Michał Zorębski, Marzena Dzida. Isobaric and Isochoric Heat Capacities as Well as Isentropic and Isothermal Compressibilities of Di- and Trisubstituted Imidazolium-Based Ionic Liquids as a Function of Temperature [J]. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2018, 57, 14, 5161–5172.