Micro-solvent Cluster Extraction Using Aqueous Mixed Solvents of Ionic Liquid

Organic compounds (2-naphthol, phenol, 4-chlorophenol, 4-nitrophenol, and 1,3,5-naphthalenetrisulfonic acid) were sufficiently separated from mixtures during flow in a fused silica capillary tube (50 mm in i.d. and 45 cm in length) with an aqueous mixed solvent of an ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (BMIM+Cl-), without a specific separation column. The method is based on micro-solvent cluster formation in aqueous mixed solvents of ionic liquid and preferential solvation of solvent clusters to analytes. The measurement of large angle X-ray scattering (LAXS) of aqueous mixed solvents with an ionic liquid of tetrafluoroborate (BMIM+BEc) indicated the formation of micro-solvent clusters of water and ionic liquid in the mixed solvent. A neutral polymer (polyvinylpyrrolidone, PVP) enhanced the separation. Polarized or ionic molecules eluted slowly. The theoretical plate numbers were 6320, 22907, 63645, and 37184 for 2- naphthol, phenol, 4-chlorophenol, and 4-nitrophenol, respectively, under the conditions of 1.0 M of BMIM+Cl- and 0.1 M of PVP; the flow rate was 1 mL min-1. The separation mechanism is discussed from the viewpoint of the partition of analytes between micro-solvent clusters of water and organic solvent molecules.