<i>tert</i>-Amyl Ethyl Ether Separation from Its Mixtures with Ethanol Using the 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium Trifluoromethanesulfonate Ionic Liquid: Liquid−Liquid Equilibrium

Abstract

The design of safe and environmentally benign separation processes has an increasingly important role in the chemical industry. Room-temperature ionic liquids are promising solvents because they have no measurable vapor pressure, so atmospheric contamination is avoided. In this work, new liquid−liquid equilibrium data were determined to prove that 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate ionic liquid can be an excellent extractant agent of ethanol from its mixtures with tert-amyl ethyl ether, thus allowing ether purification. The experimental technique is based on direct analysis of phases at equilibrium using 1H NMR, which allows quantitative analysis of the three chemicals and thus reduces the experimental error. The phase equilibrium data were satisfactorily correlated using the nonrandom two-liquid equation.