Synthesis of novel polycations using the chemistry of ionic liquids

In this work, we report the synthesis of a great variety of polycations with varying counter-anions. These new polymers were obtained by a simple anion exchange reaction facilitated by the phase separation of the resulting products. This strategy has been successfully applied to three different polycations, poly(1-vinyl-3-ethylimidazolium bromide) poly(ViEtIm(+)Br(-)), poly(1-ethyl-4-vinylpyridinium bromide) poly(ViEtPy(+)Br(-)), and poly(methacryloyloxyethyltrimethylammonium chloride) poly(EMTMA(+)Cl(-)), with seven counter-anions such as PF6-, CF3SO3-, (CF3SO2)(2)N-, (CF3CF2SO2)(2)N-, dodecylbenzenesulfonate, toluene-4-sulfonate, and bis(2-ethylhexyl) hydrogen phosphate. The solubility range of the new polymeric ionic liquids becomes very broad, including apolar organic solvents and ionic liquids, depending on the nature of the counter-anion. Thermogravimmetric experiments showed that the thermalstability of the PILs also depends on the nature of the counter-anion improving in the order CF3SO3- > (CF3CF2SO2)(2)N- > C12H25C6H4SO3- > PF6- > Br- > C16H34PO4-.