Ionic Liquids as Extractor Agents and Reaction Media in Ester Synthesis

Abstract During the last decade, ionic liquids technology has received growing attention due to the advantages they offer with respect to organic solvents. Although, in many cases, ionic liquids have simply been used to replace organic solvents, mainly due to their lack of vapor pressure, they have often led to improve process. In this work, the focus is on the application of ionic liquid technology as reaction media in the enzymatic synthesis of esters and also as extractor agents in the separation of reaction mixtures in the synthesis of esters. As reaction media, ionic liquids are opening up new fields in nonaqueous enzymology. The advantages of using ionic liquids over the use of organic solvents as reaction medium for biocatalysis include enhancement of enzyme activity, stability and selectivity. In this work, the effect of the nature of the ionic liquid on activity, selectivity, and stability of enzymes which catalyze esters synthesis has been carefully analyzed. The use of ionic liquids as extraction agent is also overviewed. Specifically, liquid‐liquid extraction using ionic liquids and supported liquid membranes based on ionic liquids have been studied.