A modular 'ionic liquid' platform for the custom design of energetic materials

In their first "evolution" ionic liquids (ILs) were mostly investigated and developed for their unique physical properties as solvents. In the second "evolution" it has been realized that the independent tunability of the cation and anion offers almost unlimited access to targeted combinations of not only physical properties, but also chemical properties. Thus, due to the structural composition of the ILs they form a unique architectural platform on which, at least potentially, the properties of cationic and/or anionic components can be independently modified. This allows for tunability in the design of new functional materials, while retaining the core features of the IL behavior. This approach is demonstrated here in the field of energetic ionic liquids (EILs), which utilize this design flexibility to find new energetic materials incorporating typical IL behavior, and at the same time, energetic material properties.;New compounds were synthesized and investigated in order to develop an understanding of the criteria needed for the future modeling and prediction of fundamental properties to produce IL materials, incorporating both the required energetic and complementary properties essential for this class of compounds. Synthetic efforts were not directed to the preparation of energetic fluids, but rather to synthesize new materials (in particular incorporating energetic functionalities) that will enable a link between chemical characteristics and the desired physical and thermodynamic properties. In completing the goals of the presented research it was hoped that gaining a fundamental understanding of model compounds will provide the information base for a relevant future design of energetic ionic liquids.;The applied modular approach presented allowed the development of the presented research on EILs in three different areas, trying to address major issues that may be confronted in the future while designing new EIL materials. The main focus has been placed on (i) the design, synthesis, screening, and evaluation of new IL components, energetically substituted imidazolium cations and azolate anions, to create an IL toolbar that can be later used to suggest methods to prepare new or improved EIL materials, (ii) the development of new synthetic protocols for the formation of EIL materials that can also be easily translated to the syntheses of other classes of ILs, and (iii) the multicomponent approach to improve the properties of model compounds that can be easily applied when "pure" two-component salts are not required for a given application.