ABSTRACT
Ionic liquids (ILs) are organic salts remaining as liquids under ambient temperatures. They normally consist of an organic cation (e.g., imidazolium, pyridinium, pyrrolidinium, phosphonium, ammonium) and a polyatomic inorganic anion (e.g., tetrauoroborate, hexauorophosphate, chloride) or, more and more current, an organic anion (e.g., triuoromethylsulfonate, bis[(triuoromethyl)sulfonyl]imide) [1]. The structures of common cations and anions of ILs are shown in Figure 22.1. They are emerging as a valuable addition to the chemist’s and engineer’s toolbox to solve specic problems in the past decades.
