Recovery of Organic Products from Ionic Liquids Using Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

Ionic liquids (ILs) hold great potential as replacements for traditional volatile organic solvents and have been shown to be a viable medium for numerous types of reactions. This work investigates the feasibility of using supercritical carbon dioxide, another environmentally benign solvent, for the separation of organic solutes from an ionic liquid. Recovery rates of aromatic and aliphatic solutes from 1-n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([bmim][PF6]) are given. Supercritical fluid extraction is shown to be a viable separation technique with the additional benefits of environmental sustainability and pure product recovery.