For the past few years, there has been a growing interest in the polymeric forms of ionic liquids. Polymeric ionic liquids can be described as a special type of polyelectrolytes, which carries covalently bonded ionic species similar to common ionic liquids. The properties of such polymer materials can be controlled by varying the anion and cation coupling as well as by changing the reactive group or spacer. This diversity resulted in numerous applications of polymeric ionic liquids in the past years. Through the use in solid electrolytes they could potentially substitute ionic liquids for electrochemical applications.
A. Shaplov (Russian Academy of Sciences), P. Vlasov (Saint-Petersburg State University) and co-workers have demonstrated the synthesis of new polymeric ionic liquids with high molar masses and conductivities via thiol-ene click chemistry. They used the radical thiol-ene addition to synthesize functional pyrrolidinium ionic liquids. This resulted in a facile reaction which gives satisfactory yields, uses water as green solvent, and results in isomeric pure products. This new family of polymeric ionic liquids is not prone to water take-up and can be used for future applications as novel polyelectrolyte.
