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A series of novel ionic liquids comprising two asymmetric phosphate-derived anions, namely dimethyl phosphorothioate and dimethyl phosphoroselenoate, and several imidazolium and non-imidazolium-based cations was prepared viaa facile synthetic route. Thermal degradation was studied by dynamic thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) revealing a slightly higher stability of the imidazolium ionic liquids and an overall low thermal stability for the phosphoroselenoate salts. Long-term moisture sorption analysis showed correlation with the polarity of the cation and differences in absorption and desorption kinetics. Finally, a Eucalyptus globuluskraft paper grade pulp was dissolved and subsequently regenerated to assess the degradation of the various molecular weight fractions by size exclusion chromatography. In addition, pre-extracted xylan was subjected to the same dissolution procedure to examine the degradation of low-molecular weight components in more detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]