Ionic liquids (ILs) are a family of compounds constituted by a variety of organic cations and organic and inorganic anions, which are liquid under 100 °C. The almost unlimited combination of the constituent ions allows for the fine tuning of their physico-chemical properties. During the last almost 20 years, their unique features have been thoroughly investigated under a plethora of different angles. The applications of ILs include their use as reaction media for organic reactions, as acid gas sorbents, and as dissolution media of biomass, to mention a few. More complex ILs, named task specific ILs, with selected functional groups, often on the cation moiety, as well as polymerizable ILs (PILs), have also been developed to address specific issues or prepare innovative membranes and materials, respectively. The association IL and green solvent has strongly characterized the development of ILs chemistry, starting from the begin of this century. However, over the years, biodegradation and toxicity of at least some ILs have also been considered and these studies helped to better define the real green character of these molten salts. Nowadays, two major concerns arise from the actual synthetic pathway to access each IL, in terms of pollution and cost, and from the petrol-derived nature of the constituent ions, which are often underestimated issues. In this regard, herein, an easy environmentally friendly access to new bio-based IL families is presented together with their potential application. Also, the preparation of an unconventional renewable sporopollenin support decorated with ILs is proposed. The latter is obtained from pollen, and is a plant specific material well defined in shape and dimension. After removal of the saccharide and proteic part, the highly stable sporopollenin is obtained to which ILs can be covalently linked to produce a new nature-based material, with potential applications for instance as a drug carrier or in catalysis.

Ionic liquids and bio resources: Several opportunities are still possible

255th National Meeting (2018)

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