Ionic liquids (ILs) have been proposed as promising media for the extraction and separation of bioactive compounds from the most diverse origins. This critical review offers a compilation on the main results achieved by the use of ionic-liquid-based processes in the extraction and separation/purification of a large range of bioactive compounds (including small organic extractable compounds from biomass, lipids, and other hydrophobic compounds, proteins, amino acids, nucleic acids, and pharmaceuticals). ILs have been studied as solvents, cosolvents, cosurfactants, electrolytes, and adjuvants, as well as used in the creation of IL-supported materials for separation purposes. The IL-based processes hitherto reported, such as IL-based solid–liquid extractions, IL-based liquid–liquid extractions, IL-modified materials, and IL-based crystallization approaches, are here reviewed and compared in terms of extraction and separation performance. The key accomplishments and future challenges to the field are discussed, with particular emphasis on the major lacunas found within the IL community dedicated to separation processes and by suggesting some steps to overcome the current limitations.

中文翻译：

---

离子液体介导的生物活性化合物的提取和分离过程：过去、现在和未来的趋势

离子液体 (IL) 已被提议作为从各种来源提取和分离生物活性化合物的有前途的介质。这篇批判性评论提供了使用基于离子液体的工艺提取和分离/纯化多种生物活性化合物（包括来自生物质、脂质和其他疏水化合物的小有机可提取化合物）所取得的主要结果的汇编、蛋白质、氨基酸、核酸和药物）。离子液体已作为溶剂、助溶剂、助表面活性剂、电解质和佐剂进行研究，并用于创建用于分离目的的离子液体支持的材料。本文对迄今为止报道的基于 IL 的工艺，例如基于 IL 的固液萃取、基于 IL 的液液萃取、IL 改性材料和基于 IL 的结晶方法，在萃取和分离性能方面进行了回顾和比较。讨论了该领域的主要成就和未来的挑战，特别强调了 IL 社区中致力于分离过程的主要缺陷，并提出了一些克服当前限制的步骤。