Separation of Ethyl Acetate and Ethanol by Room Temperature Ionic Liquids with the Tetrafluoroborate Anion

Liquid–liquid equilibrium data are presented for mixtures of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([emim]BF 4 ) or 1-(2-hydroxyethyl)-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([C 2 OHmim]BF 4 ) or 1-ethyl-2,3-dimethylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([edmim]BF 4 ) or 1-(2-hydroxyethyl)-2,3-dimethylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([C 2 OHdmim]BF 4 ) + ethanol + ethyl acetate at 298.15 K. The distribution ratio and selectivity values, derived from the tie line data, show that [C 2 OHmim]BF 4 has better extraction capacity than other studied ionic liquids and that a hydroxyl group on the cation and a CH 3 group at the 2-position can obviously affect the interaction between the ionic liquid and ethanol. The experimental results show that [C 2 OHmim]BF 4 is potentially a candidate to separate ethyl acetate and ethanol by liquid–liquid extraction. The experimental tie lines were correlated with the NRTL equation.