A low viscosity, hydrophobic eutectic solvent based on trioctylphosphine oxide (TOPO) has been developed and characterized, and its use as an extractant demonstrated for liquid−liquid separation of uranyl nitrate from aqueous acid. This strategy of liquefying the active extracting agent as a eutectic liquid produced liquids that contain an intrinsically high concentration of TOPO (ca. 80 wt %, 1.875 mol L −1 at χ TOPO = 0.50) and renders the use of an organic (hydrocarbon) diluent redundant.

The temperature- and pressure-induced paramagnetic switching of cobalt­(II) complex in a binary mixture of phosphonium-based ionic liquid [P6,6,6,14]­SCN and [Co­(NCS)2] is reported. This arises from a structural change in the coordination of the cobalt­(II) center from tetrahedral [Co­(NCS)4]2– to octahedral [Co­(NCS)6]4– when mobile thiocyanate ions are added. These properties are reflected in the abrupt change of the conductivity behavior of the magnetic ionic liquid. Therefore, as demonstrated herein, the reversible switching in coordination of cobalt from tetrahedral to octahedral can be easily monitored at ambient as well as elevated pressure by tracking the dc-conductivity changes.

An efficient and green protocol for highly selective reduction of α,β-unsaturated aldehydes and ketones at room temperature is described in a range of ionic liquids, in the absence of noble metal catalysts, by using NaBH 4 as reducing agent. Most notably, using [P 6,6,6,14 ][N(CN) 2 ] ionic liquid, in absence of organic solvent, within 10 min, 97% conversion of cinnamalde-hyde was achieved with 100% selectivity towards cinnamyl alcohol. The ionic liquid was easily recycled without any noticeable decline in activity. The reduction protocol was further extended to a variety of α,β-unsaturated aldehydes and ketones.

Herein, we report on the preparation of liquid dimeric lanthanide(III)-containing compounds. Starting from the design of dimeric solids, we demonstrate that by tuning of anion and cation structures we can lower the melting points below room temperature, whilst maintaining the dimeric structure. Magnetic measurements could establish the spin-spin interactions of the neighboring lanthanide(III) ions in the liquid state at low temperatures, and matched the interactions of the analogous crystalline solid compounds.

The cover picture shows highly selective reduction of cinnamaldehyde to cinnamyl alcohol facilitated in ionic liquids. In this work, a new protocol for selective reduction of α, β‐unsaturated aldehydes and ketones, has been developed in presence of ionic liquids by using NaBH4 as reducing agent. Under optimised conditions in [P6,6,6,14][N(CN)2] ionic liquid, 97% conversion of cinamaldehyde with 100% selectivity to cinnamyl alcohol was achieved with enhanced reaction rates. The reaction protocol is facile and [P6,6,6,14][N(CN)2] ionic liquid was easily recycled without any noticeable loss of activity and selectivity. More information can be found in the Full Paper by Manyar et al. (DOI: 10.1002/slct.201801092).