A multiphasic liquid is a
mixture consisting of more than two
immiscibleliquidphases. Biphasic mixtures consisting of two immiscible phases are very common and usually consist of an
organicsolvent and an
aqueous phase ("oil and water").
While it is possible to get multilayered phases by layering
nonpolar and aqueous phases of decreasing
densities on top of each other, these phases will not separate after mixing like true multiphasic liquids.
Hydrophobic
ionic liquid – water – hydrocarbon systems
e.g. 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate – water – cyclohexane
Tetraphasic systems
Nonpolar solvent A / solvent B / polymer soluble in solvent B and water / salt / water
e.g. 10.9% heptane, 15.5% dichloromethane, 7.1% polyethylene oxide, 66.5% sodium sulfate (> 0.1%) in water
Nonpolar solvent / Polar solvent / salt / water / Fluorinated solvent
e.g. Hexane, isopropanol, brine, perfluoromethylcyclohexane
Non polar solvent / Aprotic polar solvent / Water / Fluorinated solvent
e.g. Octane, 5-methyl-1,3-dioxolane-4-one, water, perfluorodecaline[1]
Higher-order multiphasic systems
A system with eight phases is known. In addition to a hydrocarbon and an aqueous phase, it includes a
silicone oil, an
aniline and a fluorous phase, and molten
phosphorus,
gallium and
mercury.[2]
^Melchiorre, M. et al. (2023). 1,3-Dioxolane compounds (DOXs) as biobased reaction media. Green Chemistry.
https://doi.org/10.1039/D3GC00227F
^Reichardt, C. (2006). Solvents and Solvent Effects in Organic Chemistry.
Wiley-VCH. pp. 9–10.
ISBN3-527-60567-3.
External links
Chem. Commun. 1998, 787Polymer induced multiphase generation in water/organic solvent mixtures. Strategies towards the design of triphasic and tetraphasic liquid systems (pdf)