Ionic polymers and use thereof in processing of biomass

An ionic polymer (IP) of formula (I) consisting of anions and a polymeric backbone containing cations

• wherein
• R is selected from substituted C1-C20 alkyl and substituted C5-C10 aryl, wherein substituents are selected from the group consisting of H, —SO3H, —COOH, —[P(=O)(OH)2], —[P(=O)(OH)],—O—SO3H, —O—COOH, —O—[P(=O)(OH)2] and —O—[P(=O)(OH)];
• A is a cation selected from the group consisting of
• R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6 and R7 are each independently selected from the group consisting of a bond, H, C1-C6 alkyl, allyl, CH3—(CH2)n—O—(CH2)m—CH3, C1-C6 alkoxy, C1-C6 alkoxyalkyl, benzyl and —SO3H, provided that two of R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6 and R7 are each a bond to the polymeric backbone;
• n and m are independently selected from the group consisting of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6;
• x and y are integers each independently selected within the range 1 to 1000;
• X is selected from the group consisting of F−, Cl−, Br−, I−, ClO4−, BF4 −, PF6−, AsF6−, SbF6−, NO2, NO3−, HSO4−, SO42−, PO43−, HPO42−, CF3CO2−, CF3CO3−, CO32−, CF3SO3−, C1-C6 carboxylate, CN−, SCN−, OCN−, CNO−, N3−, tosylate, mesylate, trifluoromethanesulfonate, trifluoroethane sulfonate, di-trifluoromethanesulfonyl amino, docusate and xylenesulfonate.