Abstract

Ionic liquids are simply organic salts that have melting point below 100°C. As liquid salts they offer a range of solvency properties distinctly different from normal molecular solvents. In addition to this, they are often very stable – thermally, chemically and electrochemically. They have thus found application in a wide variety of contexts from green chemistry to medicinal chemistry, electrochemistry and more recently in the biochemical and biosciences. By way of example, recent work has shown that many medicinally active compounds can be ionic liquids when combined with an appropriate counter-ion, opening up a huge range of new, and in some cases dual-active, pharmaceuticals. They can also be used as novel stabilising solvents for proteins, the stability of the protein being much enhanced both with respect to thermal denaturation and also chemical degradation. They have been shown to be very useful in the electro-deposition of metals and semiconductors, including water-splitting catalysts, and as electrolyte solvents for batteries and solar cells. Their electrochemical and thermal properties have led to the development of applications in corrosion protection and in lubrication. Certain selected examples are excellent solvents for biopolymers such as cellulose and lignin. This talk will survey these fields and discuss future directions emerging in this fascinating new area of chemistry. Selected references: 1. Stoimenovski, J.; MacFarlane, D. R.; Bica, K.; Rogers, R. D., Crystalline vs. Ionic Liquid Salt Forms of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients: A Position Paper. Pharm. Res. 2010, 27, 521-526. 2. Ionic liquid materials for the electrochemical challenges of the future M. Armand, F. Endres D. R. MacFarlane, H. Ohno, B. Scrosati Nature Materials, 2009, 8, 621-629,