A reversible zwitterionic SO2-binding organic liquid
As fossil fuel consumption continues, there is much attention being focused on capturing acid gas emissions from power plants. We have recently investigated SO2-binding organic liquids (SO2BOLs) as means to reversibly capture and release SO2 selectively over CO2.1 SO2BOLs are mixtures of tertiary amines and alcohols, which bind SO2 as liquid ammonium alkylsulfite salts. Tertiary amines selectively bind SO2 over CO2 because tertiary amines are basic enough to accept a proton from sulfurous and alkylsulfurous acids but not carbonic or alkylcarbonic acids. This is in contrast to other groups who absorb SO2 physically in ionic liquids2-4 or chemically absorb SO2 in organic systems5-7 or as irreversible aqueous bisulfite or sulfite salts.8-11 Our dual component SO2BOL ionic liquids can contain up to 47% SO2 by mass, have low specific heats, and can be desulfoxylated by heating to 90ºC.1 We believed that a bifunctional tertiary alkanol amine would be able to capture SO2 comparable to our binary SO2BOL system. We present here the first reversible zwitterionic liquid produced from the reaction of SO2 with N,N-dibutylundecanolamine (DBUA). The SO2 is chemically bound through the alcohol moiety as an alkylsulfite, which we believe is stabilized by hydrogen bonding through the protonated amine portion of the molecule. Our recent interest in SO2BOLs led us to explore the possible reaction of aprotic alkanolamines with SO2 to form single-component SO2BOLs. A symbiotic pairing of the base and the alcohol on one molecule allows for a simple unimolecular system compared to the binary SO2BOL system. The bifunctional molecule also would have reduced volatility compared to tertiary amines due to increased hydrogen bonding from the alcohol moiety. To our knowledge there are few examples of zwitterionic liquids, and none of them have been shown to be reversible (polar to non-polar).12-14 Our first target molecule was N,N-dibutylundecanolamine because we envisioned long alkyl chains keeping the alkanolamine a liquid before and after exposure to SO2. N,N-dibutyldodecanolamine was synthesized in 88% isolated yield by refluxing dibutylamine and 11-bromoundecanol in ethanol.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 974467
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-65940; TRN: US201007%%732
- Journal Information:
- Energy & Environmental Science, 3(1):111-113, Vol. 3, Issue 1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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