It is widely believed that a defining characteristic of ionic liquids (or low-temperature molten salts) is that they exert no measurable vapour pressure, and hence cannot be distilled. Here we demonstrate that this is unfounded, and that many ionic liquids can be distilled at low pressure without decomposition. Ionic liquids represent matter solely composed of ions, and so are perceived as non-volatile substances. During the last decade, interest in the field of ionic liquids has burgeoned, producing a wealth of intellectual and technological challenges and opportunities for the production of new chemical and extractive processes, fuel cells and batteries, and new composite materials. Much of this potential is underpinned by their presumed involatility. This characteristic, however, can severely restrict the attainability of high purity levels for ionic liquids (when they contain poorly volatile components) in recycling schemes, as well as excluding their use in gas-phase processes. We anticipate that our demonstration that some selected families of commonly used aprotic ionic liquids can be distilled at 200-300 degrees C and low pressure, with concomitant recovery of significant amounts of pure substance, will permit these currently excluded applications to be realized.

Ionic liquids were initially proposed as replacements for conventional organic solvents; however, their chemistry has developed remarkably and offers unexpected opportunities in numerous fields, ranging from electrochemistry to biology. As a consequence of ionic liquids advancing towards potential and actual applications, a comprehensive determination of their environmental, health and safety impact is now required. This critical review aims to present an overview of the current understanding of the toxicity and environmental impact of the principal ionic liquid groups, and highlights some emerging concerns. Each cation type is considered separately, examining the significance of the biological data, and identifying the most critical questions, some yet unresolved. The need for more, and more detailed, studies is highlighted (176 references).

During the past decade, ionic-liquid-based Aqueous Biphasic Systems (ABS) have been the focus of a significant amount of research. Based on a compilation and analysis of the data hitherto reported, this critical review provides a judicious assessment of the available literature on the subject. We evaluate the quality of the data and establish the main drawbacks found in the literature. We discuss the main issues which govern the phase behaviour of ionic-liquid-based ABS, and we highlight future challenges to the field. In particular, the effect of the ionic liquid structure and the various types of salting-out agents (inorganic or organic salts, amino acids and carbohydrates) on the phase equilibria of ABS is discussed, as well as the influence of secondary parameters such as temperature and pH. More recent approaches using ionic liquids as additives or as replacements for common salts in polymer-based ABS are also presented and discussed to emphasize the expanding number of aqueous two-phase systems that can actually be obtained. Finally, we address two of the main applications of ionic liquid-based ABS: extraction of biomolecules and other added-value compounds, and their use as alternative approaches for removing and recovering ionic liquids from aqueous media.

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Recently, many studies concerning the environmental impact of ionic liquids (ILs) have shown that despite their unique properties and clear advantages in an ever wide range of applications and processes, ILs are not intrinsically green. In a search for biodegradable and low toxicity, a new type of ILs has been developed, the deep eutectic solvents (DESs). In this context, the aim of this work is to provide accurate densities, viscosities, and refractive indices for DESs prepared using cholinium chloride as the hydrogen bond acceptor and several carboxylic acids (levulinic, glutaric, malonic, oxalic, and glycolic) as the hydrogen bond donors. The impact of two different synthetic methodologies, heating and grinding, in the thermophysical properties of the prepared DESs was assessed. The obtained DESs were analyzed using NMR spectroscopy, FTIR, and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry in order to check their structures and purities. Thermophysical properties, densities, viscosities, and refractive indices were rationalized in terms of the chemical structure of the prepared DESs. The effect of the presence of water in the thermophysical properties of the compounds was also evaluated. Finally, comparisons between the DESs and the corresponding ILs are presented.