A new series of task-specific ionic liquids (TSILs) having anions with beta-amino acid structure were synthesized under mild reaction condition from commodity chemicals, such as methyl acrylate, simple amine compounds, and tetrabutylammonium hydroxide via Michael addition followed by hydrolysis reactions. The resulted beta-amino acid-TSILs were evaluated for CO2 scrubbing under ambient pressures and expected to mimic the reactivity of the alkanolamine system. Depending on the anion structure, the number of amino group, and type of solvent (water or ethylene glycol), 0.6-0.9 mol of CO2 was captured per mol of TSIL at 0.1 MPa and at 313 K. FT-IR and C-13 NMR spectroscopy studies indicated the formation of ammonium carbamate and HCO3- species when atmospheric CO2 was bubbled through a solution containing 30 wt.% of amino acid-TSIL. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.