(364f) Liquid-Liquid Equilibria for Ternary Systems Limonene + Linalool + Ionic Liquid with Lactate Anion

Essential oils are important in the food and cosmetic industries because of their characteristic tastes and odors. They are composed of one or more terpenes and some oxygenated derivatives. The oxygenated compounds can be oxidized when they are exposed to air, and they usually have organoleptic properties. Separation is required to concentrate these oxygenated compounds. Liquid-liquid extraction would be more suitable than distillation, because application of heat can affect the organoleptic properties of essential oils. In this work, we focus on liquid-liquid extraction as a separation method for essential oils.

Solvent selection is very important in the design and development of the liquid-liquid extraction processes. Recently, alternative solvents for green chemistry have been attracted much attention as promising candidates to replace toxic organic solvents and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). We focus on ionic liquids (ILs) with bio-based anion. ILs with bio-based anion have little effect of environment and life cycle. Several building blocks derived from major renewable sources can be used as IL precursors. Because of their features, ILs with bio-based anion could be used as a solvent for green separation and purification. In the design and development of liquid-liquid extraction processes. Reliable liquid-liquid equilibrium (LLE) data are of importance

This work presents the experimental LLE of ternary mixtures limonene + linalool + IL at temperatures 298.15 and 323.15 K. Two ILs with bio-based anion, i.e., 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium lactate [BMIM][lac] and 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium lactate [HMIM][lac] were tested. From the experimental LLE data, considerations of two ILs as extraction solvent were done by the values of distribution factor (β) and selectivity (S). From their considerations, both ILs could be more suitable and green solvents for the separation of deterpenation of citrus essential oil using liquid-liquid extraction.