Ionic liquids are salts that are liquid at low temperature (<100 degrees C) which represent a new class of solvents with nonmolecular, ionic character. Even though the first representative has been known since 1914, ionic liquids have only been investigated as solvents for transition metal catalysis in the past ten years. Publications to date show that replacing an organic solvent by an ionic liquid can lead to remarkable improvements in well-known processes. Ionic liquids form biphasic systems with many organic product mixtures. This gives rise to the possibility of a multiphase reaction procedure with easy isolation and recovery of homogeneous catalysts. In addition, ionic liquids have practically no vapor pressure which facilitates product separation by distillation. There are also indications that switching from a normal organic solvent to an ionic liquid can lead to novel and unusual chemical reactivity. This opens up a wide field for future investigations into this new class of solvents in catalytic applications.

Ionic Liquids-New "Solutions" for Transition Metal Catalysis.

It is possible to say that zeolites are the most widely used catalysts in industry They are crystalline microporous materials which have become extremely successful as catalysts for oil refining, petrochemistry, and organic synthesis in the production of fine and speciality chemicals, particularly when dealing with molecules having kinetic diameters below 10 A The reason for their success in catalysis is related to the following specific features of these materials:1 (1) They have very high surface area and adsorption capacity (2) The adsorption properties of the zeolites can be controlled, and they can be varied from hydrophobic to hydrophilic type materials (3) Active sites, such as acid sites for instance, can be generated in the framework and their strength and concentration can be tailored for a particular application (4) The sizes of their channels and cavities are in the range typical for many molecules of interest (5-12 A), and the strong electric fields2 existing in those micropores together with an electronic confinement of the guest molecules3 are responsible for a preactivation of the reactants (5) Their intricate channel structure allows the zeolites to present different types of shape selectivity, ie, product, reactant, and transition state, which can be used to direct a given catalytic reaction toward the desired product avoiding undesired side reactions (6) All of these properties of zeolites, which are of paramount importance in catalysis and make them attractive choices for the types of processes listed above, are ultimately dependent on the thermal and hydrothermal stability of these materials In the case of zeolites, they can be activated to produce very stable materials not just resistant to heat and steam but also to chemical attacks Avelino Corma Canos was born in Moncofar, Spain, in 1951 He studied chemistry at the Universidad de Valencia (1967−1973) and received his PhD at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 1976 He became director of the Instituto de Tecnologia Quimica (UPV-CSIC) at the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia in 1990 His current research field is zeolites as catalysts, covering aspects of synthesis, characterization and reactivity in acid−base and redox catalysis A Corma has written about 250 articles on these subjects in international journals, three books, and a number of reviews and book chapters He is a member of the Editorial Board of Zeolites, Catalysis Review Science and Engineering, Catalysis Letters, Applied Catalysis, Journal of Molecular Catalysis, Research Trends, CaTTech, and Journal of the Chemical Society, Chemical Communications A Corma is coauthor of 20 patents, five of them being for commercial applications He has been awarded with the Dupont Award on new materials (1995), and the Spanish National Award “Leonardo Torres Quevedo” on Technology Research (1996) 2373 Chem Rev 1997, 97, 2373−2419

From Microporous to Mesoporous Molecular-Sieve Materials and Their Use in Catalysis

3.2.3. Hydroformylation 2467 3.2.4. Dimerization 2468 3.2.5. Oxidative Cleavage and Ozonolysis 2469 3.2.6. Metathesis 2470 4. Terpenes 2472 4.1. Pinene 2472 4.1.1. Isomerization: R-Pinene 2472 4.1.2. Epoxidation of R-Pinene 2475 4.1.3. Isomerization of R-Pinene Oxide 2477 4.1.4. Hydration of R-Pinene: R-Terpineol 2478 4.1.5. Dehydroisomerization 2479 4.2. Limonene 2480 4.2.1. Isomerization 2480 4.2.2. Epoxidation: Limonene Oxide 2480 4.2.3. Isomerization of Limonene Oxide 2481 4.2.4. Dehydroisomerization of Limonene and Terpenes To Produce Cymene 2481

Chemical Routes for the Transformation of Biomass into Chemicals

In contrast to a recently expressed, and widely cited, view that “Ionic liquids are starting to leave academic labs and find their way into a wide variety of industrial applications”, we demonstrate in this critical review that there have been parallel and collaborative exchanges between academic research and industrial developments since the materials were first reported in 1914 (148 references)

Applications of ionic liquids in the chemical industry

For economical and ecological reasons, synthetic chemists are confronted with the increasing obligation of optimizing their synthetic methods. Maximizing efficiency and minimizing costs in the production of molecules and macromolecules constitutes, therefore, one of the most exciting challenges of synthetic chemistry.1-3 The ideal synthesis should produce the desired product in 100% yield and selectivity, in a safe and environmentally acceptable process.4 It is now well recognized that organometallic homogeneous catalysis offers one of the most promising approaches for solving this basic problem.2 Indeed, many of these homogeneous processes occur in high yields and selectivities and under mild reaction conditions. Most importantly, the steric and electronic properties of these catalysts can be tuned by varying the metal center and/or the ligands, thus rendering tailor-made molecular and macromolecular structures accessible.5,6 Despite the fact that various efficient methods, based on organometallic homogeneous catalysis, have been developed over the last 30 years on the laboratory scale, the industrial use of homogeneous catalytic processes is relatively limited.7 The separation of the products from the reaction mixture, the recovery of the catalysts, and the need for organic solvents are the major disadvantages in the homogeneous catalytic process. For these reasons, many homogeneous processes are not used on an industrial scale despite their benefits. Among the various approaches to address these problems, liquidliquid biphasic catalysis (“biphasic catalysis”) has emerged as one of the most important alternatives.6-11 The concept of this system implies that the molecular catalyst is soluble in only one phase whereas the substrates/products remain in the other phase. The reaction can take place in one (or both) of the phases or at the interface. In most cases, the catalyst phase can be reused and the products/substrates are simply removed from the reaction mixture by decantation. Moreover, in these biphasic systems it is possible to extract the primary products during the reaction and thus modulate the product selectivity.12 For a detailed discussion about this and other concepts of homogeneous catalyst immobilization, the reader is referred elsewhere.6,7 These biphasic systems might combine the advantages of both homogeneous (greater catalyst efficiency and mild reaction conditions) and heterogeneous (ease of catalyst recycling and separation of the products) catalysis. The advent of water-soluble organometallic complexes, especially those based on sulfonated phosphorus-containing ligands, has enabled various biphasic catalytic reactions to be conducted on an industrial scale.13-15 However, the use of water as a * Corresponding author. Fax: ++ 55 51 3316 73 04. E-mail: dupont@iq.ufrgs.br. 3667 Chem. Rev. 2002, 102, 3667−3692

https://www.chem.ccu.edu.tw/~joyce/referance/gump/IL/Chem.%20Rev.%202002,%20102,%203667.pdf

Ionic liquid (molten salt) phase organometallic catalysis.

http://www1.udel.edu/chem/polenova/PDF/Polyoxometalates/POMs_Catalysis_NMR_ChemRev1998.pdf

Catalysis by Heteropoly Acids and Multicomponent Polyoxometalates in Liquid-Phase Reactions

Catalysis by heteropoly acids (HPAs) and related compounds is a field of growing importance, attracting increasing attention worldwide, in which many new and exciting developments are taking place in both research and technology [1–111, HPAs are polyoxometalates incorporating anions (heteropolyanions) having metal-oxygen octahedra as the basic structural units [ll-141. Among a wide variety of HPAs those belonging to the so-called Keggin series are the most importance for catalysis. They include heteropolyanions (HPANs)

Heteropoly Acids and Related Compounds as Catalysts for Fine Chemical Synthesis

New solid acid catalysts, consisting of heteropoly acid (HPA) H3PW12O40 (PW) supported on a mesoporous pure-silica molecular sieve MCM-41, have been prepared and characterized by nitrogen physisorption, X-ray diffraction, FT-IR, and31P magic angle spinning NMR. The PW/MCM-41 compositions with PW loadings from 10 to 50 wt% have ∼ 30 A uniformly-sized mesopores. HPA retains the Keggin structure on the MCM-41 surface and forms finely dispersed HPA species. No HPA crystal phase is developed even at HPA loadings as high as 50 wt%. PW/MCM-41 exhibits higher catalytic activity than H2SO4 or bulk PW in liquid-phase alkylation of 4-t-butylphenol (TBP) by isobutene and styrene. In the alkylation of TBP by styrene, PW/MCM-41 shows a size selectivity compared to bulk PW and PW/SiO2, providing higher yields of a 2-(1-phenylethyl)-4-t-butylphenol, at the expense of the more bulky 2,6-bis-(1-phenylethyl)-4-t-butylphenol. The PW/MCM-41 compositions, having strong acid sites and a regular mesoporous system, are promising catalysts for the acid-type conversion and formation of organic compounds of large molecular size.

New acid catalyst comprising heteropoly acid on a mesoporous molecular sieve MCM-41

With the aim of obtaining pure Keggin-type heteropoly acid (HPA) species on siliceous surfaces, the preparation of HPA catalysts, comprising of 10 to 50 wt.% H3PW12O40 (PW) supported on an amorphous silica or a mesoporous all-silica molecular sieve MCM-41, was studied. The state of HPA on the siliceous surface was characterized by 31P NMR, XRD and TEM. Impregnating MCM-41 or amorphous SiO2 with an aqueous solution of PW gave catalysts with, in general, two HPA species: one with intact Keggin structure (A) and the other with a different structure (B), supposedly, H6P2W18O62 (P2W18) and/or H6P2W21O71 (P2W21). The relative amount of species A and B depends on HPA loading, with A dominating. At higher loadings, 30–50 wt.%, A is practically the only one present on the surface; at lower loadings, both species exist, the amount of B increasing as the HPA loading decreases. In contrast, catalysts prepared by impregnation with a methanol solution of HPA contained exclusively Keggin-type A over the whole range of PW loading. In the PWMCM-41 catalysts, as shown by TEM, the PW species are mainly located inside the MCM-41 pores. The B species was about 8 times as active as A in the liquid-phase trans-de-t-butylation of 2,6-di-t-butyl-4-methylphenol.

Study of catalysts comprising heteropoly acid H3PW12O40 supported on MCM-41 molecular sieve and amorphous silica

Caesium 12-tungstophosphate, Cs2.5H0.5PW12O40 (CsPW), possessing strong Bronsted acid sites is an active catalyst for the dehydration of glycerol to acrolein in the gas-phase process at 275 °C and 1 bar pressure. The initial glycerol conversion amounts to 100% at 98% acrolein selectivity, however, decreases significantly with the time on stream (∼40% after 6 h) due to catalyst coking, without impairing acrolein selectivity. Doping CsPW with platinum group metals (PGM) (0.3–0.5%) together with co-feeding hydrogen improve catalyst stability to deactivation, while maintaining high selectivity to acrolein. The enhancing effect of PGM was found to increase in the order: Ru ∼ Pt < Pd. The catalyst 0.5%Pd/CsPW gives 96% acrolein selectivity at 79% glycerol conversion, with a specific rate of acrolein production of 23 mmol h−1 gcat−1 at 275 °C and 5 h time on stream, exceeding that reported previously for supported heteropoly acids (5–11 mmol h−1 gcat−1 per total catalyst mass). Evidence is presented regarding the nature of acid sites required for the dehydration of glycerol to acrolein, supporting the importance of strong Bronsted sites for this reaction.

Ivan V. Kozhevnikov

Papers

Catalysis by Heteropoly Acids and Multicomponent Polyoxometalates in Liquid-Phase Reactions

Heteropoly Acids and Related Compounds as Catalysts for Fine Chemical Synthesis

New acid catalyst comprising heteropoly acid on a mesoporous molecular sieve MCM-41

Study of catalysts comprising heteropoly acid H3PW12O40 supported on MCM-41 molecular sieve and amorphous silica

Gas-phase dehydration of glycerol to acrolein catalysed by caesium heteropoly salt