3. Applications

Solvents occupy a strategic position in the field of green chemistry [CHV 4 000] . There is a growing need to develop new, more environmentally-friendly processes, and therefore a need to replace conventional organic solvents with greener solvents. Until now, the number of green solvents available has been fairly limited. These include supercritical fluids (mainly CO ₂ ), biomass-derived solvents (glycerol, for example) and ionic liquids (some of which are controversial).

Because of their similarity to ionic liquids, DES applications have...