Scope and Limitations in the Synthesis of Glucosamine-based Ionic Liquids

This research article focuses on the synthesis of ionic liquids from glucosamine, a renewable material obtained from chitin. Our group previously experienced some obstacles in the synthesis of these glucosamine-based ionic liquids, often due to the sterical hindrance induced by the dimethylated amino-group. In this work we present a method using Borch reductive amination to overcome these limitations to achieve a dimethylethylamino-group. We furthermore expanded upon the library of glucosamine-based ionic liquids with new glycosidic groups, discovered a new shortened reaction procedure by skipping a deprotection step and finally compared the thermal properties of the ionic products to get an insight into structure-property relationships.

Automated summary

This research article focuses on the synthesis of ionic liquids from glucosamine, a renewable material obtained from chitin. The researchers overcame obstacles in the synthesis by using Borch reductive amination to achieve a different amino-group, and discovered new shortened reaction procedures and expanded the library of ionic liquids. The thermal properties of the products were compared to understand structure-property relationships.