Development of natural products relies heavily on advanced separation technologies for extraction from abundant biomass raw material sources. A novel approach for isolating natural products and their precursors is the use of the poly(ionic liquid). Poly(ionic liquid) extractants provide the polarity

designability and selectivity of ionic liquids while being less toxic and more easily recoverable. In this review

synthetic methods of polycations

polyanions and polyzwitterions are summarized. The latest progress in the use of poly(ionic liquid)-mediated solid phase extraction

solid phase microextraction

molecular imprinted solid phase extraction

liquid-liquid extraction and capillary electrophoresis technologies to separate natural products such as flavonoids

alkaloids

phenols and proteins are reviewed. This will include a description of the proposed separation mechanism and the features of this approach including the reported efficiencies

stability

and recoverability of poly(ionic liquid)s. The specific focus will be on the use of smart polymeric materials for separation of natural products. Moreover

the designing and synthetic tailoring of new species to address current challenges and expand the applicability of poly(ionic liquid)-mediated technologies for separating natural products will be introduced.