Replacing imidazole with benz-imidazole: a promising approach to enhance the electrocatalytic performance of imidazolium based surface active ionic liquids for greener electrosynthesis.

We present the synthesis of a novel benzimidazolium-based surface active ionic liquid (SAIL), 3-dodecyl-1 H -3λ-benzo[ d ]imidazole chloride, a SAIL with excellent surface activity and self-aggregation tendency whose aqueous micellar solutions offer exceptional solubilizing capacity and electrocatalytic performance for efficient electrocarboxylation of halocarbons.