1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium

hexafluorophosphate Hexafluorophosphate is an fluoroanion, anion with chemical formula of . It is an Octahedral molecular geometry, octahedral species that imparts no color to its salts. is isoelectronic with sulfur hexafluoride, , and the Hexafluorosilicic acid, h ...

, also known as BMIM-PF₆, is a viscous, colourless,

hydrophobic In chemistry, hydrophobicity is the chemical property of a molecule (called a hydrophobe) that is seemingly repelled from a mass of water. In contrast, hydrophiles are attracted to water. Hydrophobic molecules tend to be nonpolar and, thu ...

and non-water-soluble

ionic liquid An ionic liquid (IL) is a salt (chemistry), salt in the liquid state at ambient conditions. In some contexts, the term has been restricted to salts whose melting point is below a specific temperature, such as . While ordinary liquids such as wate ...

with a melting point of −8 °C. Together with 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, BMIM-BF₄, it is one of the most widely studied ionic liquids. It is known to very slowly decompose in the presence of water.

Preparation and uses

BMIM-PF₆ is commercially available. It may be obtained in two steps: BMIM-Cl is synthesized by alkylating 1-methylimidazole with 1-chlorobutane. A metathesis reaction with potassium hexafluorophosphate gives the desired compound; the tetrafluoroborate may be prepared by analogously using potassium tetrafluoroborate. : BMIM

BMIM-PF₆ has been investigated in electrochemistry where it serves both as solvent and electrolyte. and electrochemical CO₂ reduction.

Preparation and uses

See also

References

Further reading