Date: 20^th February 2016

Venue: AV Hall

Participants: M.Sc. Semester I and III students

Number of students: 35

Resource Person: Prof. Siddharth Pandey, Department of Chemistry, IIT Delhi

Prof. Siddharth Pandey started his lecture with the basics of solvents. In chemistry, the choice of right solvent is necessary, since it constitutes the 80% of total volume of chemicals used in process. Following the principles of green chemistry, most of the organic solvents do not fulfill the requirements for their use in green technology. They have an inherent toxicity and high volatility. In the last decades, efforts have been made to replace organic solvents as they are toxic in nature. Ionic liquids and deep eutectic solvents are the new class of solvents which can be used in place of organic solvents.

Ionic liquids are salts which are liquid below 100⁰C. The first ionic liquid, ethyl ammonium nitrate, was reported in 1914. Ionic liquids have wide liquid temperature range, high selectivity and solubility for many organic solvents, but these are too much expensive compared to organic solvents.

Advantages of eutectic solvents and ionic liquids are-

Cheapest

More biodegradable

Non toxic

Easy to synthesize

Low vapour pressure

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