Final Activity Report Summary - SUPERGREENCHEM (Green chemistry in supercritical fluids: phase behaviour, kinetics and scale-up)
The Network research programme contributed to overcome some of the technological obstacles that still impede the widespread use of those supercritical sol vents. Several types of important chemical reactions were studied, including reactions with gases (hydrogenation, oxidation with oxygen, hydroformylation), polymerisations, reactions catalysed by enzymes, and reactions in ionic liquids, novel and fashionable substances that combine well with supercritical fluids. Their study was carried out mostly in conditions where different phases (gas and liquid) are present, and their equilibrium behaviour was therefore a controlling parameter of the rates and yields of the reactions.