Queen's University Belfast, School of Chemistry

n our analysis of Ionic Liquids research, Queen's University Belfast ranked at the #1 position for the most-cited institutions publishing in this field over the past decade, with 101 papers cited a total of 1,894 times. According to the ISI Essential Science Indicators Web product, Queen's University Belfast ranked #246 in citations, and has published 1,017 papers cited a total of 11,439 times to date among the 746 top-performing institutions in Chemistry. The institution's most-cited paper in this field with 'ionic liquids' in its title is, "Ionic Liquids For Clean Technology," ( J. Chem. Technol. Biotechnol. 68[4]: 351-356, Apr 1997), has been cited 211 times to date.  Recently, ESI Special Topics visited the Website of this highly-cited institution, Queen's University Belfast, and 1captured unedited bytes of their description for this profile.

Research In the School of Chemistry at Queen's University Belfast, is organised into four groupings:

1. Organic Synthesis and Biological Chemistry
2. Catalysis
3. Inorganic And Materials Chemistry
4. Spectroscopy, Photochemistry And Analytical Science.

Our focus for this profile is Inorganic And Materials Chemistry. It is comprised of co-ordination chemistry, organometallic chemistry, phosphines, ionic liquids, metal-metal interactions, crystal engineering, crystallography, nanoporous structures, archaeological chemistry, green chemistry, hydrogen bonding

Their description of Ionic Liquids reads as follows:

Volatile organic solvents are the normal media for the industrial synthesis of organic chemicals (petrochemical and pharmaceutical), with a current world-wide usage estimated at £4,000,000,000 p.a. However, their environmental impact is significant, and the Montreal Protocol has resulted in a compelling need to re-evaluate many chemical processes that have proved otherwise satisfactory for much of this century. A conspicuous example is the recent closure of one of the DuPont Hypalon® plants, which had been operating with chlorinated hydrocarbon solvents: ionic liquids are involatile. The principal aim of our work is to explore, develop and understand the role of ionic liquids as media for synthetic organic chemistry (including polymer chemistry and petrochemical processes), such that current commercial processes using conventional molecular organic solvents may be replaced by clean processes using ionic liquid technology, and so that new processes may be developed. This work is carried out in collaboration with chemists and chemical engineers in the European chemical industry (viz. Unilever, BP, ICI, British Nuclear Fuels, Akzo Nobel and Durham Chemicals), and with the support of QUESTOR, QUCAT and the School of Chemical Engineering at the Queen’s University of Belfast. Ionic liquids will dissolve a wide range of organic molecules to an appreciable extent (benzene, for example, will form up to 50% (v/v) solutions), meaning much lower volumes of solvent are required for a given process. We have demonstrated that a wide range of catalysed organic reactions (including oligomerizations, polymerizations, alkylations, and acylations) occurs in room-temperature ionic liquids, and that these are serious candidates for commercial processes. All the indications are that room-temperature ionic liquids are the basis of a new industrial technology, they are truly designer solvents. 
--•>Click here to view a graphic of room-temperature ionic liquids.