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Nucleophilic displacement in an ionic liquid
The viability of room-temperature ionic liquids as catalytic, environmentally benign solvents for reactions between organic compounds and inorganic salts has been demonstrated. have shown that the reaction of potassium cyanide with benzyl chloride to yield phenylacetonitrile can be carried out in 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (shown). Such nucleophilic substitution reactions are normally run in heterogeneous systems using a volatile organic compound as solvent and a phase-transfer catalyst to bring the ionic reactants into the nonpolar phase. "Ionic liquids dissolve the organic reactants and products and can act either as the phase-transfer catalyst itself or as a solvent for the catalyst." "Quantitative separation of the product from the ionic liquid can be achieved by extraction with pressurized carbon dioxide." The group also demonstrated that the base-promoted cycloalkylation of phenylacetonitrile with 1,4-dibromobutane can be carried out in the same ionic liquid. "We are now looking at other phase-transfer catalyzed reactions in ionic liquids and in supercritical fluids,"
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