Evaluation of the usage of ionic liquids as solvents in the crystallization process of acetylsalicylic acid based on the Green Chemistry principles

Abstract

This study proposes an alternate process in the crystallization of acetylsalicylic acid and evaluates the environmental impact of the new process. As a solution, proposes the use of ionic liquids as a substitute for conventional organic solvents. After creating solubility graphics for acetylsalicylic acid in three different ionic liquids, experimentation validated the new experimentation processes. The experiments show a higher yield of acetylsalicylic acid crystals than the yield obtained from conventional organic solvents. Finally, the study proposes a new environmental evaluation tool, the Solvent Greenness Preliminary Evaluation, to evaluate the environmental impact of the crystallization processes with ionic liquids. This tool scores each process's impact without considering the manufacture of the solvents involved in the process. The evaluation scores one of the ionic liquids as the greener option for crystallization.