Ionic Liquids (ILs) attracted particular attention over the past decade because they can be designed by choosing the proper cation-anion combination to pursuit the best performance as solvents for a certain application. Together with their, in general, extremely low volatility, the so-called �Task Specific Ionic Liquids� show promising advantages for CO2 capture compared to the conventional solvents. However, the �green� character of ILs can be questioned because most of them are produced from fossil resources and their synthesis cannot be considered as being �green�. Moreover, the high production and purification cost do not make ILs technology competitive with traditional solvents.To overcome some of the limitations of ILs, Deep Eutectic Solvents (DES) were recognized as potential alternatives. These low transition temperature mixtures (LTTMs) consist of at least one hydrogen bond donor (HBD) and one hydrogen bond acceptor (HBA) counterpart, resulting in the formation of a liquid mixture showing an unusual low freezing point. Due to the high hydrogen bonding interaction, some of the promising characteristics of ILs as solvents are shared by DESs. They often possess an extremely low volatility, and their properties can be adjusted by selecting the nature and ratio of the hydrogen bonding pairs. They can also be designed to show a wide liquid range, water-compatibility, non-flammability, non-toxicity, biocompatibility or biodegradability. Finally, they can be easily prepared from readily available starting materials and becoming a competitive solvent in terms of cost.

Ionic liquids vs. deep eutectic solvents

248th National Meeting (2014)

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