Patent ID: 7982069

Claim:
A method for separating a nonpolar liquid from a mixture, comprising: providing a mixture comprising a nonpolar liquid, an alcohol, a compound of formula (1), and CO 2 , where the compound of formula (1) is: where R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , and R 4 are independently H; a substituted or unsubstituted C 1 to C 10 alkyl group that is linear, branched, or cyclic; a substituted or unsubstituted C n Si m group where n and m are independently a number from 0 to 10 and n+m is a number from 1 to 10; a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group optionally containing one or more {—Si(R 6 ) 2 —O—} units; or a substituted or unsubstituted heteroaryl group optionally containing one or more {—Si(R 6 ) 2 —O—} units; R 6 is a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, aryl, heteroaryl, or alkoxy moiety; and wherein the compound of formula (1) may be a monocyclic or bicyclic ring structure; converting the alcohol, the compound of formula (1), and the CO 2 into an ionic liquid, wherein the nonpolar liquid is miscible with the alcohol and compound of formula (1), but is immiscible with the ionic liquid, and wherein the nonpolar liquid is not reactive with the compound of formula (1) in the presence of the CO 2 ; and separating the ionic liquid and the nonpolar liquid to isolate the nonpolar liquid.