Solvation of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate in aqueous ethanol - a green solution for dissolving 'hydrophobic' ionic liquids

The relatively hydrophobic ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexaflu orophosphate has been found to be totally miscible with aqueous ethanol bet ween 0.5 and 0.9 mol fraction ethanol, whereas the ionic liquid is only par tially miscible with either pure water or absolute ethanol; the ability to dissolve 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate in a 'green' aqueo us solvent system has important implications for cleaning, purification, an d separations using ionic liquids.