Synthesis and Characterization of Benzimidazolium Salts as Novel Ionic Liquids and their Catalytic Behavior in the Reaction of Alkylation

A new series of ionic liquids have been prepared containing benzimidazolium cation (abbreviated as Bim). These salts were characterized by DSC, NMR, elemental analysis and thermogravimetric analysis. They showed different properties compared to imidazolium cation due to the introduction of benzene ring. The alkylation of benzene/diphenyl ether with 1-dodecene was carried in C4eBimBr-AlCl3 ionic liquids showing high catalytic activity when the mole ratio of C4eBimB:AlCl3 was 1:2.