Application of ionic liquids in analytical chemistry

Room-temperature ionic liquids (ILs) are gaining wide recognition as novel solvents in chemistry. Their application in analytical chemistry, especially in separating analytes, is merited because ILs have some unique properties, such as negligible vapor pressure, good thermal stability, tunable viscosity and miscibility with water and organic solvents, as well as good extractability for various organic compounds and metal ions. This review gives a brief overview of the application of ILs in analytical chemistry, including sample preparation, chromatographic/capillary electrophoretic (CE) separation, and detection.