During the last two decades, a new class of liquids has gained momentum as a possible replacement for either traditional organic solvents or high temperature inorganic molten salts. These liquids are low temperature organic molten salts, and are commonly eferred to as ionic liquids (ILs). ILs are a distinct sub-set of organic compounds that are fundamentally different than traditional molecular solvents and inorganic molten salts due to their low melting temperature and ionic nature. ILs have a melting point below 100 °C, by definition, and many are liquid at room emperature. ILs are comprised of discrete ions that allow for emarkable tunability in designing and controlling their chemical and physical properties. Seddon has remarked that in just two sub- classes of ILs, azolium and pyridinium, there are over 1018 different salts that can be synthesized (though not all would have melting points below 100 °C, thus not an IL).
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