BATIL-2 Meeting

28.09.2009 - 29.09.2009, Frankfurt am Main

BATIL - 2 (BIODEGRADABILITY AND TOXICITY OF IONIC LIQUIDS)

28 - 29 September 2009 in Frankfurt/Main, Germany

Invitiation

In 2007 DECHEMA launched the first meeting ever dedicated to the Biodegradability and Toxicity of Ionic Liquids (BATIL) in Berlin. This was very much an experimental meeting, as the three disparate communities – biodegradation, toxicology, and ionic liquids – had never met before, and much of the meeting followed a workshop format – each group educating the other two into the needs of their disciplines. This meeting bore fruits beyond our best hopes, as there followed a burgeoning in the literature of papers in this crucial area.

Claims that ionic liquids are, a priori, green or that ionic liquids in general are toxic are both equally spurious, and too often repeated: the reality is that we know little, and can predict less, about the toxicological properties and biodegradation of ionic liquids. If their commercialisation is to continue, this lacuna in our knowledge and understanding must be filled as a matter of urgency. Following on from BATIL is BATIL-2. This latest meeting, in what is now a series, will be held in Frankfurt in 2009, and it is clear that the landscape of the meeting has evolved since Berlin. This time, there is no need for workshops, and the meeting is dominated by invited lectures on the latest cutting-edge research in the area. There will also be a key focus on the poster session, as well as a round-table to assess both the progress over the past two years, and the prospect for the next two.

It is crucial to the future of ionic liquids that we match the success at BATIL-1, and for this we need attendance from industrialists, academics, government scientists, and environmentalists. Ionic liquids are now an accepted part of industrial chemistry, and the more they are brought into common use, the more important their continuous rigorous investigation for safety and environmental fate becomes. BATIL-2 will take the vanguard in this next crucial period.

Organising Committee

K.R. Seddon , The Queen’s University of Belfast/UK
P. Wasserscheid , University of Erlangen-Nuremberg/D
D. Demtröder , DECHEMA e.V., Frankfurt am Main/D