Ionic liquids with anions based on fluorosulfonyl derivatives: from asymmetrical substitutions to a consistent force field model.

Herein, seven anions including four imide-based, namely bis[(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl]imide (TFSI), bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (FSI), bis[(pentafluoroethyl)sulfonyl]imide (BETI), 2,2,2-trifluoromethylsulfonyl-N-cyanoamide (TFSAM) and 2,2,2-trifluoro-N-(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) acetamide (TSAC), and two sulfonate anions, trifluoromethanesulfonate (triflate, TF) and nonafluorobutanesulfonate (NF), are considered and compared. The volumetric mass density and dynamic viscosity of five ionic liquids containing these anions combined with the commonly used 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium cation (C2C1im), [C2C1im][FSI], [C2C1im][BETI], [C2C1im][TFSAM], [C2C1im][TSAC] and [C2C1im][NF] are measured in the temperature range of 293.15 ≤ T/K ≤ 353.15 and at atmospheric pressure. The results show that [C2mim][FSI] and [C2mim][TFSAM] exhibit the lowest densities and viscosities among all the studied ionic liquids. The experimental volumetric data is used to validate a more consistent re-parameterization of the CL&P force field for use in MD simulations of ionic liquids containing the ubiquitous bis[(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl]imide and trifluoromethanesulfonate anions and to extend the application of the model to other molten salts with similar ions.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as model solutes for carbon nanomaterials in ionic liquids.

The aim of this work is to understand the details of the interactions of ionic liquids with carbon nanomaterials (graphene and nanotubes) using polyaromatic compounds as model solutes. We have combined the measurements of thermodynamic quantities of solvation with molecular dynamics simulations to provide a microscopic view. The solubility of five polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (naphthalene, anthracene, phenanthrene, pyrene and coronene) was determined in seven ionic liquids ([C4C1im][C(CN)3], [C4C1pyrr][Ntf2], [C10C1im][Ntf2], [C2C1im][C(CN)3], [C2C1im][Ntf2], [C3C1pyrr][N(CN)2] and [C4C1im][N(CN)2]) at 298 K. The enthalpies of the dissolution of naphthalene, anthracene and pyrene were measured in four of the ionic liquids. Free energies were estimated from those measurements in order to analyse the entropic or enthalpic contributions to the dissolution process. Molecular dynamics simulations provided solvation free energies that were compared to experimental and structural information. Spatial distributions of solvent ions around the solutes when combined with IR measurements elucidate the structure of solvation environments. Interactions between the imidazolium rings of cations and the π system of the solutes have been identified. However, ionic liquids with pyrrolidinium cations appeared as better solvents due to favourable enthalpic contributions compared to imidazolium cations. Long alkyl side chains on cations lead to higher solubility and lower enthalpy of dissolution by creating a "softer" solvation environment. Considering the effect of anions, small and planar anions lead to higher solubilities and lower enthalpies of dissolution of polyaromatic hydrocarbons. These findings provide the design principles based on molecular interactions and the structure of solvation environments to choose or formulate ionic liquids in view of their affinity for carbon nanomaterials.

Mixtures of the 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ionic liquid with different inorganic salts: insights into their interactions.

In this work, we explore the interactions between the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolim acetate and different inorganic salts belonging to two different cation families, those based on ammonium and others based on sodium. NMR and Raman spectroscopy are used to screen for changes in the molecular environment of the ions in the ionic liquid + inorganic salt mixtures as compared to pure ionic liquid. The ion self-diffusion coefficients are determined from NMR data, allowing the discussion of the ionicity values of the ionic liquid + inorganic salt mixtures calculated using different methods. Our data reveal that preferential interactions are established between the ionic liquid and ammonium-based salts, as opposed to sodium-based salts. Computational calculations show the formation of aggregates between the ionic liquid and the inorganic salt, which is consistent with the spectroscopic data, and indicate that the acetate anion of the ionic liquid establishes preferential interactions with the ammonium cation of the inorganic salts, leaving the imidazolium cation less engaged in the media.

Cation alkyl side chain length and symmetry effects on the surface tension of ionic liquids.

Aiming at providing a comprehensive study of the influence of the cation symmetry and alkyl side chain length on the surface tension and surface organization of ionic liquids (ILs), this work addresses the experimental measurements of the surface tension of two extended series of ILs, namely R,R'-dialkylimidazolium bis[(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl]imide ([C(n)C(n)im][NTf2]) and R-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium bis[(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl]imide ([C(n)C(1)im][NTf2]), and their dependence with temperature (from 298 to 343 K). For both series of ILs the surface tension decreases with an increase in the cation side alkyl chain length up to aliphatic chains no longer than hexyl, here labeled as critical alkyl chain length (CACL). For ILs with aliphatic moieties longer than CACL the surface tension displays an almost constant value up to [C12C12im][NTf2] or [C16C1im][NTf2]. These constant values further converge to the surface tension of long chain n-alkanes, indicating that, for sufficiently long alkyl side chains, the surface ordering is strongly dominated by the aliphatic tails present in the IL. The enthalpies and entropies of surface were also derived and the critical temperatures were estimated from the experimental data. The trend of the derived thermodynamic properties highlights the effect of the structural organization of the IL at the surface with visible trend shifts occurring at a well-defined CACL in both symmetric and asymmetric series of ILs. Finally, the structure of a long-alkyl side chain IL at the vacuum-liquid interface was also explored using Molecular Dynamics simulations. In general, it was found that for the symmetric series of ILs, at the outermost polar layers, more cations point one of their aliphatic tails outward and the other inward, relative to the surface, than cations pointing both tails outward. The number of the former, while being the preferred conformation, exceeds the latter by around 75%.

The alternation effect in ionic liquid homologous series.

A recent report on a density odd-even alternation effect in a homologous series of ionic liquids (alkyltrioctylphosphonium chlorides, with the linear alkyl group ranging from ethyl to decyl) led to the detection of a similar trend in another ionic liquid family based on a different cation (1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium). Ab initio calculations and Molecular Dynamics simulations of the corresponding ions confirmed that the charge distribution along the alkyl side chains and the conformations adopted by them are not the direct cause of the odd-even effect. The simulations also showed that all cation side chains tend to adopt transoid conformations that pack head-to-head in the liquid phase. Such types of conformations/packing lead to odd-even alternation effects on properties involving solid phases of different molecular compounds containing linear alkyl chains. The surprising results obtained for the ionic liquid series enabled us to unveil similar trends in the liquid phases of linear alkanes and alkanols via the application of a simple corresponding states principle.

The impact of ionic liquid fluorinated moieties on their thermophysical properties and aqueous phase behaviour.

In this work, we demonstrate that the presence of fluorinated alkyl chains in Ionic Liquids (ILs) is highly relevant in terms of their thermophysical properties and aqueous phase behaviour. We have measured and compared the density and viscosity of pure 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tris(pentafluoroethyl)trifluorophosphate, [C2C1im][FAP], with that of pure 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate, [C2C1im][PF6], at atmospheric pressure and in the (288.15 to 363.15) K temperature range. The results show that the density of [C2C1im][PF6] is lower than that of [C2C1im][FAP], while the viscosity data reveal the opposite trend. The fluid phase behaviour of aqueous solutions of the two ILs was also evaluated under the same conditions and it was found that the mutual solubilities of [C2C1im][FAP] and water are substantially lower than those verified with [C2C1im][PF6]. The experimental data were lastly interpreted at a molecular level using Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation results revealing that the interactions between the IL ions and the water molecules are mainly achieved via the six fluorine atoms of [PF6](-) and the three analogues in [FAP](-). The loss of three interaction centres when replacing [PF6](-) by [FAP](-), coupled with the bulkiness and relative inertness of the three perfluoroethyl groups, reduces its mutual solubility with water and also contributes to a lower viscosity displayed by the pure [FAP]-based IL as compared to that of the [PF6]-based compound.

Surface tension of ionic liquids and ionic liquid solutions.

Some of the most active scientific research fronts of the past decade are centered on ionic liquids. These fluids present characteristic surface behavior and distinctive trends of their surface tension versus temperature. One way to explore and understand their unique nature is to study their surface properties. This critical review analyses most of the surface tension data reported between 2001 and 2010 (187 references).

Probing ionic liquid aqueous solutions using temperature of maximum density isotope effects.

This work is a new development of an extensive research program that is investigating for the first time shifts in the temperature of maximum density (TMD) of aqueous solutions caused by ionic liquid solutes. In the present case we have compared the shifts caused by three ionic liquid solutes with a common cation-1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium coupled with acetate, ethylsulfate and tetracyanoborate anions-in normal and deuterated water solutions. The observed differences are discussed in terms of the nature of the corresponding anion-water interactions.

Density, thermal expansion and viscosity of cholinium-derived ionic liquids.

Density and viscosity data of the N-alkyl-N,N-dimethyl-N-(2-hydroxyethyl)ammonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ionic liquids homologous series [N(1 1 n 2(OH))][Ntf(2)] with n=1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 have been measured at atmospheric pressure in the 283

The distillation and volatility of ionic liquids.

It is widely believed that a defining characteristic of ionic liquids (or low-temperature molten salts) is that they exert no measurable vapour pressure, and hence cannot be distilled. Here we demonstrate that this is unfounded, and that many ionic liquids can be distilled at low pressure without decomposition. Ionic liquids represent matter solely composed of ions, and so are perceived as non-volatile substances. During the last decade, interest in the field of ionic liquids has burgeoned, producing a wealth of intellectual and technological challenges and opportunities for the production of new chemical and extractive processes, fuel cells and batteries, and new composite materials. Much of this potential is underpinned by their presumed involatility. This characteristic, however, can severely restrict the attainability of high purity levels for ionic liquids (when they contain poorly volatile components) in recycling schemes, as well as excluding their use in gas-phase processes. We anticipate that our demonstration that some selected families of commonly used aprotic ionic liquids can be distilled at 200-300 degrees C and low pressure, with concomitant recovery of significant amounts of pure substance, will permit these currently excluded applications to be realized.

Solubility of alkanes, alkanols and their fluorinated counterparts in tetraalkylphosphonium ionic liquids.

We investigated the mutual solubility of mixtures of phosphonium-based ionic liquids with alkanes, alkanols, fluorinated alkanes and fluorinated alkanols. The solubilities of other solute molecules like water, formamide, 1,4-dioxane, benzene, and dimethylsulfoxide were also tested. Whenever possible, the corresponding temperature-composition (T-x) phase diagrams at atmospheric pressure were built from cloud-point temperature determinations. The influence of the size of the solute was tested with binary mixtures of trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium acetate, [P(6 6 6 14)][Ac], with hexane, decane or tetradecane. The influence of the anion of the ionic liquid, namely acetate, [Ac], bis-[(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl]imide, [Ntf(2)], trifluoromethanesulfonate, [Otf], and dicyanamide, [dca], on the solubility of the ionic liquids in hexane was also studied. For the ionic liquid [P(6 6 6 14)][Ntf(2)] the liquid-liquid phase diagrams were determined with different solutes-alkanes, perfluoroalkanes, partially fluorinated alkanes, and partially fluorinated alkanols-with the aim of analysing the solute-solvent interactions. A comparison of the phase behaviour of solutions containing phosphonium-based ionic liquids and 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium based ionic liquids, including a discussion of their different morphologies at a structural level, is also provided. It was found that fluorination of the aliphatic chains of organic compounds can be used as an effective way to control the solubility limits of these compounds in phosphonium- or imidazolium-based ionic liquids, both in terms of concentration and temperature.

Phase equilibria in ionic liquid-aromatic compound mixtures, including benzene fluorination effects.

This work extends the scope of previous studies on the phase behavior of mixtures of ionic liquids with benzenes or its derivatives by determining the solid-liquid and liquid-liquid phase diagrams of mixtures containing an ionic liquid and a fluorinated benzene. The systems studied include 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide plus hexafluorobenzene or 1,3,5-trifluorobenzene and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium triflate or N-ethyl-N-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide plus benzene. The phase diagrams exhibit different kinds of solid-liquid behavior: the (usual) occurrence of eutectic points; the (not-so-usual) presence of congruent melting points and the corresponding formation of inclusion crystals; or the observation of different ionic liquid crystalline phases (polymorphism). These different types of behavior can be controlled by temperature annealing during crystallization or by the nature of the aromatic compound and can be interpreted, at a molecular level, taking into account the structure of the crystals or liquid mixtures, together with the unique characteristics of ionic liquids, namely the dual nature of their interactions with aromatic compounds.

1-Alkyl-3-methylimidazolium alkanesulfonate ionic liquids, [C(n)H(2)(n)(+1)mim][C(k)H(2)(k)(+1)SO(3)]: synthesis and physicochemical properties.

A set of 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium alkanesulfonate ionic liquids, [C(n)mim][C(k)SO(3)], formed by the variation of the alkyl chain lengths both in the cation and the anion (n = 1-6, 8, or 10; k = 1-4, or 6), was synthesised, with sixteen of them being novel. The ionic liquids were characterised by (1)H and (13)C NMR spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry. Their viscosities and densities as a function of temperature, as well as melting points and decomposition temperatures, were determined. The molecular volumes, both experimental and calculated, were found to depend linearly on the sum (n + k).

Molecular force field for ionic liquids IV: trialkylimidazolium and alkoxycarbonyl-imidazolium cations; alkylsulfonate and alkylsulfate anions.

This is the fourth article of a series that describes the parametrization of a force field for the molecular simulation of common ionic liquids within the framework of statistical mechanics. The force field was developed in the spirit of the OPLS-AA model and is thus oriented toward the calculation of equilibrium thermodynamic and structural properties in the condensed (liquid) phase. The ions modeled in the present paper are cations of the 1,2,3-trialkylimidazolium and alkoxycarbonyl imidazolium families and alkylsulfate and alkylsulfonate anions. As in previous publications, the force field is built in a stepwise manner that allows, for example, the construction of models for an entire family of cations or anions, with alkyl side chains of different length. Because of the transferability of the present force field, the ions studied here can be combined with those reported in our three previous publications to create a large variety of ionic liquids that can be studied by molecular simulation. The extension of the force field was validated by comparison of simulation results with the corresponding crystal structure and liquid density experimental data.

Molecular dynamics simulations of porphyrin-dendrimer systems: toward modeling electron transfer in solution.

We have performed computational simulations of porphyrin-dendrimer systems--a cationic porphyrin electrostatically associated to a negatively charged dendrimer--using the method of classical molecular dynamics (MD) with an atomistic force field. Previous experimental studies have shown a strong quenching effect of the porphyrin fluorescence that was assigned to electron transfer (ET) from the dendrimer's tertiary amines (Paulo, P. M. R.; Costa, S. M. B. J. Phys. Chem. B 2005, 109, 13928). In the present contribution, we evaluate computationally the role of the porphyrin-dendrimer conformation in the development of a statistical distribution of ET rates through its dependence on the donor-acceptor distance. We started from simulations without explicit solvent to obtain trajectories of the donor-acceptor distance and the respective time-averaged distributions for two dendrimer sizes and different initial configurations of the porphyrin-dendrimer pair. By introducing explicit solvent (water) in our simulations, we were able to estimate the reorganization energy of the medium for the systems with the dendrimer of smaller size. The values obtained are in the range 0.6-1.5 eV and show a linear dependence with the inverse of the donor-acceptor distance, which can be explained by a two-phase dielectric continuum model taking into account the medium heterogeneity provided by the dendrimer organic core. Dielectric relaxation accompanying ET was evaluated from the simulations with explicit solvent showing fast decay times of some tens of femtoseconds and slow decay times in the range of hundreds of femtoseconds to a few picoseconds. The variations of the slow relaxation times reflect the heterogeneity of the dendrimer donor sites which add to the complexity of ET kinetics as inferred from the experimental fluorescence decays.

A tale of two ions: the conformational landscapes of bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide and N,N-dialkylpyrrolidinium.

The conformational landscapes of two commonly used ionic liquid ions, the anion bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide (Ntf2) and the cations N-propyl- and N-butyl-N-methylpyrrolidinium, were investigated using data obtained from Raman spectroscopy, molecular dynamics, and ab initio techniques. In the case of Ntf2, the plotting of three-dimensional potential energy surfaces (PES) and the corresponding molecular dynamics (MD) simulations confirmed the existence of two stable isomers (each existing as a pair of enantiomers) and evidenced the nature of the anion as a flexible, albeit hindered, molecule capable of interconversion between conformers in the liquid state, a result confirmed by the Raman data. In the case of the N,N-dialkylpyrrolidinium cations, the PES show a much more limited conformational behavior of the pyrrolidinium ring (pseudorotation). Nevertheless, such pseudorotation produces two stable isomers with the propyl and butyl side chains in completely different positions (axial-envelope and equatorial-envelope conformations). This result was also confirmed by Raman spectra analyses and MD simulations in the liquid phase. The implications of the conformational behavior of the two types of ions are discussed in terms of the solvation properties of the corresponding ionic liquids.

Experimental and molecular dynamics simulation study of the sublimation and vaporization energetics of iron metalocenes. crystal structures of Fe(eta5-C5H4CH3)2 and Fe[(eta5-(C5H5)(eta5-C5H4CHO)].

The standard molar enthalpies of sublimation of ferrocene, 1,1'-dimethylferrocene, decamethylferrocene, ferrocenecarboxaldehyde and alpha-methylferrocenemethanol, and the enthalpy of vaporization of N,N-dimethyl(aminomethyl)ferrocene, at 298.15 K, were determined by Calvet-drop microcalorimetry and/or the Knudsen effusion method. The obtained values were used to assess and refine our previously developed force field for metallocenes. The modified force field was able to reproduce the deltasubHdegreesm and deltavapHdegreesm values of the test-set with an accuracy better than 5 kJ.mol-1, except for decamethylferrocene, in which case the deviation between the calculated and experimental deltasubHdegreesm values was 16.1 kJ.mol-1. The origin of the larger error found in the prediction of the sublimation energetics of decamethylferrocene, and which was also observed in the estimation of structural properties (e.g., density and unit cell dimensions), is discussed. Finally, the crystal structures of Fe(eta5-C5H4CH3)2 and Fe[(eta5-(C5H5)(eta5-C5H4CHO)] at 293 and 150 K, respectively, are reported.

Molecular dynamics simulations of charged dendrimers: low-to-intermediate half-generation PAMAMs.

We have performed atomistic molecular dynamics simulations of PAMAM dendrimers of generations 0.5, 1.5, 2.5, 3.5, and 4.5. The simulated systems comprise the charged dendrimer and its counterions embedded in a dielectric continuum (i.e., without explicit solvent). Structural properties of these dendrimers, like the radius of gyration, the principal moments of inertia, and the segment density profiles, were evaluated from the simulations. The average radius of gyration obtained for the intermediate half-generations 2.5, 3.5, and 4.5 follows the same scaling law that was previously inferred from simulations of full-generation PAMAMs, Rg approximately M1/3, and is characteristic of space-filling objects. The low half-generations 0.5 and 1.5 deviate, however, to greater Rg values. The shape of the smaller dendrimers is approximately that of a prolate ellipsoid, which becomes more spherical for higher generations. The segment density profiles show features identical to those obtained in other simulations of flexible-chain dendrimers, like dendron-backfolding. Two slightly different configurations, in terms of size and shape, were identified for generation 2.5. The radial distributions of counterions extracted from the simulations compare well with the solutions of Poisson-Boltzmann cell model, and the dendrimer's effective charge was estimated using the Bjerrum criterion. The influence of electrostatic interactions in the dendrimer's conformation due to repulsion between the charged end-groups and its relation to counterion effects is discussed for the several generations simulated. The form factors calculated from the simulations are compared with the model of a homogeneous ellipsoid of revolution. The overall results are in agreement with the previously established morphological transition of PAMAM dendrimers toward a more spherical and compact conformation above generations 3 or 4.

Nicotine: on the potential role of ionic liquids for its processing and purification.

Marked solubility differences of nicotine in the ionic liquids [C(2)mim][NTf(2)], [C(2)mim][EtOSO(3)], and [C(n)mim]Cl, 6

Salting-out effects in aqueous ionic liquid solutions: cloud-point temperature shifts.

The effects of the addition of three inorganic salts, namely, NaCl, Na(2)SO(4), and Na(3)PO(4), on the liquid-liquid (L-L) phase diagram of aqueous solutions containing the model ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, [bmim][BF(4)], were investigated. All three inorganic salts trigger salting-out effects, leading to significant upward shifts of the L-L demixing temperatures of the systems. The magnitude of the shifts depends on both the water-structuring nature of the salt and its concentration; that is, the effects are correlated with the ionic strength of the solution and the Gibbs free energy of hydration of the inorganic salt. The pH effect and the occurrence of salt precipitation in concentrated solutions are also discussed.