Electron spin-lattice relaxation mechanisms of nitroxyl radicals in ionic liquids and conventional organic liquids: temperature dependence of a thermally activated process.

During the past two decades, several studies have established a significant role played by a thermally activated process in the electron spin relaxation of nitroxyl free radicals in liquid solutions. Its role has been used to explain the spin relaxation behavior of these radicals in a wide range of viscosities and microwave frequencies. However, no temperature dependence of this process has been reported. In this work, our main aim was to investigate the temperature dependence of this process in neat solvents. Electron spin-lattice relaxation times of 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPO) and 4-hydroxy-TEMPO (TEMPOL), in X-band microwave frequency, were measured by the pulse saturation recovery technique in three room-temperature ionic liquids ([bmim][BF4], [emim][BF4], and [bmim][PF6]), di-isononyl phthalate, and sec-butyl benzene. The ionic liquids provided a wide range of viscosity in a modest range of temperature. An auxiliary aim was to examine whether the dynamics of a probe molecule dissolved in ionic liquids was different from that in conventional molecular liquids, as claimed in several reports on fluorescence dynamics in ionic liquids. This was the reason for the inclusion of di-isononyl phthalate, whose viscosities are similar to that of the ionic liquids in similar temperatures, and sec-butyl benzene. Rotational correlation times of the nitroxyl radicals were determined from the hyperfine dependence of the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) line widths. Observation of highly well-resolved proton hyperfine lines, riding over the nitrogen hyperfine lines, in the low viscosity regime in all the solvents, gave more accurate values of the rotational correlation times than the values generally measured in the absence of these hyperfine lines and reported in the literature. The measured rotational correlation times obeyed a modified Stokes-Einstein-Debye relation of temperature dependence in all solvents. By separating the contributions of g-anisotropy, A-anisotropy and spin-rotation interactions from the observed electron spin-lattice relaxation rates, the contribution of the thermally activated process was obtained and compared with its expression for the temperature dependence. Consistent values of various fitted parameters, used in the expression of the thermal process, have been found, and the applicability of the expression of the thermally activated process to describe the temperature dependence in liquid solutions has been vindicated. Moderate solvent dependence of the thermally activated process has also been observed. The rotational correlation times and the spin-lattice relaxation processes of nitroxyls in ionic liquids and in conventional organic liquids are shown to be explicable on a similar footing, requiring no special treatment for ionic liquids.

Rotational and translational diffusion of spin probes in room-temperature ionic liquids.

We have studied the rotational and translational diffusion of the spin probe 4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy (TEMPOL) in five imidazolium-based room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) and glycerol by means of X-band electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Rotational correlation times and rate constants of intermolecular spin exchange have been determined by analysis of the EPR line shape at various temperatures and spin probe concentrations. The model of isotropic rotational diffusion cannot account for all spectral features of TEMPOL in all RTILs. In highly viscous RTILs, the rotational mobility of TEMPOL differs for different molecular axes. The translational diffusion coefficients have been calculated from spin exchange rate constants. To this end, line shape contributions stemming from Heisenberg exchange and from the electron-electron dipolar interaction have been separated based on their distinct temperature dependences. While the Debye-Stokes-Einstein law is found to apply for the rotational correlation times in all solvents studied, the dependence of the translational diffusion coefficients on the Stokes parameter T/η is nonlinear; i.e., deviations from the Stokes-Einstein law are observed. The effective activation energies of rotational diffusion are significantly larger than the corresponding values for translational motion. Effects of the identity of the RTIL cations and anions on the activation energies are discussed.

Room-temperature ionic liquids discerned via nitroxyl spin probe dynamics.

The temperature dependence of the rotational correlation times, τ(c), of the nitroxide spin probes TEMPO, TEMPOL, TEMPAMINE, and Fremy's salt in the ionic liquids 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ethylsulfate, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate is scrutinized. The rotation correlation times vary between 54 and 1470 ps at 300 K. Within a temperature range of 280-380 K, the rotational tumbling is well described by the extended Debye-Stokes-Einstein law. The hydrodynamic radii are smaller than the geometrical radii though. This discrepancy can partly be accounted for by microviscosity effects and deviations from the spherical shape. This study is distinguished from similar studies by the fact that proton superhyperfine coupling constants could be resolved for all nitroxides in the ionic liquids by carefully optimizing the experimental protocol. As a consequence, many rotational correlation times reported here are smaller than those found previously. Furthermore, the temperature dependence of the nitrogen ESR coupling constants is reported and discussed in detail. A surprising effect of adventitious water is reported for TEMPAMINE.