Ionic liquids with symmetrical dialkoxymethyl-substituted imidazolium cations.

A new one-step procedure is described for the synthesis of disubstituted imidazolium chlorides. 1,3-Dialkoxymethylimidazolium chlorides thus obtained can be employed as synthetic precursors of symmetrical ILs. The salts have been found to exhibit antimicrobial activity and an antielectrostatic effect. Their densities and viscosities have been determined and are reported herein. It has also been demonstrated that the ILs can be decomposed using an aqueous solution of KMnO(4). For each IL, the permanganate index (I(Mn)) has been estimated, which varies with the structure of cation. The only limitation of I(Mn) is the degree to which the IL dissolves in water.