Structural Features and Properties of Metal Complexes in Ionic Liquids: Application in Alkylation Reactions

Metal-containing ionic liquids (ILs) represent a promising sub-class of "charged" liquids which increase the tunability of ILs combining the properties of common organic salts with magnetic, photophysical/optical or catalytic properties of the incorporated metal salts. In ILs lacking of coordinating groups on cation dissolution of metal salts is generally associated with the coordination of the metal cation with IL anion(s). Here we report on the anionic speciation of metals in ILs having either highly or poorly coordinating anions and we discuss some peculiar properties of these systems in the light of their structural features.