Ionic liquids have been proposed as separation agents for liquid extraction of aromatic compounds from their mixtures with alkanes, with the aim of improving the separation process and replacing conventional organic solvents. A significant number of experimental liquid-liquid equilibrium data for ternary system alkane + aromatic compound + ionic liquid can be found in literature; however there are few data for quaternary or higher systems involving more than one aliphatic compound, several aromatic compounds or a mixture of ionic liquids as separation agent. These data are also necessary because molecular interactions between the compounds in the mixture can modify the affinity of the solvent for the aromatic compound of interest. In this chapter we review the published data involving more than three components, and we present new liquid-liquid equilibrium data for the quaternary systems heptane + cyclohexane + toluene +1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis{(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl}imide and heptane + cyclohexane + toluene + 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium bis{(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl}imide.
Part of the book: Solvents, Ionic Liquids and Solvent Effects