Hydrolysis and partial recycling of a chloroaluminate ionic liquid

Hydrolysis of the ionic liquid Et3NHCl-2AlCl(3) and a process for recycling the triethylamine were studied. When the hydrolysis was carried out at a relatively high temperature, the released HCl could be absorbed more easily. With addition of sodium hydroxide to the aqueous hydrolysis solution, a feasible process for recycling triethylamine was developed, involving first distillation of triethylamine, followed by filtration of the aluminium hydroxide. The yield of recovered triethylamine was about 95%. The triethylhydrogenammonium chloride prepared from the recycled triethylamine was of good purity and could be reused to synthesize new chloroaluminate ionic liquids.