Current trends in analytical chemistry are leading to miniaturization and reduction in the cost of chemical
analysis. Rapid development of traditional liquid-liquid extraction towards liquid-phase microextraction
(LPME) is a direct consequence of these trends. Considerable reduction of solvents and waste has been
achieved and the number of applications of LPME is rapidly growing. Different types of LPME have emerged,
including single-drop microextraction, hollow-fiber LPME and dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction.
However, the past decade brought considerable change to the analytical field with the application of ionic
liquids (ILs). Their good thermal stability and low vapor pressure make them relatively non-hazardous
for analytical applications in comparison to the solvents used traditionally. This review presents the applications
of ILs in LPME of metals. It describes the most widely-used procedures and gives examples of
emerging sample-preparation techniques.