One of the most promising uses of ionic liquids is to separate organic compounds in mild conditions of temperature or pressure. In order to propose the most appropriate ionic liquid to selectively dissolve a family of solutes it is necessary to understand the molecular mechanisms of solvation, the empirical correlation of the data not being able to always correctly predict the solubility of different families of solutes.We have measured the solubility of ethane, perfluoroethane and ethylene in different ionic liquids based on imidazolium cations that are partially fluorinated or that include aromatic substituents. The thermodynamic properties of solvation prove that the solubilities are determined not only by the nature of the solute-solvent interactions but also by the structure of the solvent around the solute in solution. Molecular mechanisms of solvation could be established using molecular simulation.

Structure-solvation relationships in imidazolium-based ionic liquids

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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