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Ionic liquid Crystals constitute highly versatile materials that have drawn much interest these past few years in the fields of academic research and industrial development. In this respect, the present article is intended as an update of K. Binnemans review published in 2005, but focusing exclusively on the imidazolium cation - the most widely studied. Herein, imidazolium-containing thermotropic liquid crystalline materials will be sorted by molecular structure (mono-, bis-, poly-imidazolium compounds, with symmetrical and non-symmetrical structures) and discussed. Their physico-chemical properties will be exposed in order to adduce the relevancy and potential of the imidazolium platform in various fields of research.
The iron-containing ionic liquids 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrachloroferrate(III) [C(4)mim][FeCl4] and 1-dodecyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrachloroferrate(III) [C(12)mim][FeCl4] exhibit a thermally induced demixing with water (thermomorphism). The phase separation temperature varies with IL weight fraction in water and can be tuned between 100 degrees C and room temperature. The reversible lower critical solution temperature (LCST) is only observed at IL weight fractions below ca. 35% in water. UV/Vis, IR, and Raman spectroscopy along with elemental analysis prove that the yellow-brown liquid phase recovered after phase separation is the starting IL [C(4)mim][FeCl4] and [C(12)mim][FeCl4], respectively. Photometry and ICP-OES show that about 40% of iron remains in the water phase upon phase separation. Although the process is thus not very efficient at the moment, the current approach is the first example of an LCST behavior of a metal-containing IL and therefore, although still inefficient, a prototype for catalyst removal or metal extraction.