Patent ID: 7737106

Claim:
A continuous process for preparing an aqueous concentrate comprising from about 10% to about 30%, by weight, of water and 70% to 90% by weight of an active ingredient which is an ionic liquid having an amine oxide cation, comprising the steps of: introducing a first reactant comprising an organic amine oxide and a second reactant feedstock, said feedstock comprising 50% to 100%, by weight, of a secondary alkyl sulfate, into the reaction zone of a reactor; introducing a protic acid into the reaction zone such that the resulting reaction mixture has a pH less than about 5; circulating the first and second reactants and the protic acid in the reaction zone at a circulation rate to establish a Reynolds number of at least about 2000 of the first and second reactants and the protic acid to produce a product stream comprising said ionic liquid; removing from the reaction zone said product stream and transferring the product stream into a separator, wherein the product stream comprises an ionic liquid which comprises an amine oxide cation and a secondary alkyl sulfate anion; while controlling the introduction of the first and second reactants into the reaction zone and the removal of the product stream from the reaction zone such that the residence time of the reaction mixture in the reaction zone is from about 0.1 minute to about 30 minutes to produce the ionic liquid; and allowing the product stream to separate into an upper and lower phase and recovering the ionic liquid from the upper phase, said process being carried out without using halogenated solvents.