“Ionic Liquids - Solutions for Your Success"

* Ionic liquids yield advantages
* World’s first industrially utilizable process
* Comprehensive line of products for sale

The palette of ionic liquids supplied by BASF’s Operating Division Intermediates is being presented in its new brochure entitled: “Ionic Liquids – Solutions for Your Success”. The 18-page publication, available only in English, describes briefly the scope of the Operating Division’s innovative ionic liquids technologies, services and application potentials. The same information has also been adapted to a new Internet presentation (www.basionics.com), where the brochure is available for downloading. In addition the site allows potential users to contact BASF’s experts directly.

BASF sells ionic liquids under the BasionicsTM trademark and the world’s first industrially utilizable process with ionic liquids under the BasilTM brand name.


Basionics have a very promising future

Dr. Matthias Maase of the New Business Development Unit of BASF’s Operating Division Intermediates explained: “Based on their properties, entirely new applications can be developed for ionic liquids, for a multitude of uses, such as cleaning media or technical liquids for mechanical and automotive engineering as well as for natural gas and oil production applications. One of these opportunities involves ionic liquids in dissolving and processing cellulose. To this end BASF recently established a promising cooperative endeavor with the University of Alabama in the United States. With ionic liquids it is possible for the first time to obtain solutions of cellulose, a renewable raw material, in technically useful concentrations.


World’s first industrially utilizable process

The Basil process – the name stands for Biphasic Acid Scavenging Utilizing Ionic Liquids – is the world’s first industrial process to use ionic liquids. “With this process acids can be removed rapidly and simply from reaction solvents,” explained Dr. Maase. The reaction between acid and base creates a liquid salt rather than solid crystals, which in full scale production could make for problems. Reliance on ionic liquids does away with time-consuming and expensive filtration. These liquids can be easily separated from the desired product, like oil from water.

BASF received the highest award from the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), the British association of chemical and process engineers. In 2004 the ionic liquids team received the Innovation Award from European Chemical News, a trade magazine, and the Innovation Prize from BASF.

The Operating Division Intermediates of the BASF Group develops, produces and markets the world’s largest range of intermediates. The most important of the division’s more than 600 products include amines, diols, polyalcohols and acids. Among other applications, intermediates are used as starting materials for, coatings, plastics, pharmaceuticals, textile fibres, detergents and crop protectants. Innovative BASF intermediates help to improve the properties of the final product and the efficiency of production processes. The ISO 9001:2000-certified operating division has access to plants at 15 production sites – four of them with joint venture partners - in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. In 2004, this BASF operating division with 2.850 employees generated world sales of EUR 2 billions (2003: EUR 1,8 billions). For more information, go to www.basf.de/intermediates.

Editors, please note:
* For the new web pages on ionic liquids, click on www.basionics.com
* The “Ionic Liquids” brochure can be downloaded as a PDF file at that site.

Contact Information

Georg Sposny

BASF

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