Immobilised ionic liquids

Ionic liquids are immobilised on a functionalised support which carries or contains one component of the ionic liquid, or a precursor to such a component. The ionic liquid may be immobilised via the anion by treating a support with an anion source, e.g., an inorganic halide, before the ionic liquid is applied or formed. Alternatively, the ionic liquid may be immobilised by having the cation covalently bound to the support, e.g., through silyl groups, or incorporated in the support by synthesising the support in the presence of a suitable base. The immobilised ionic liquids are of use as catalysts, for example, for the Friedel-Crafts reaction