Probing the impact of the N3-substituted alkyl chain on the electronic environment of the cation and the anion for 1,3-dialkylimidazolium ionic liquids

Men, Shuang; Jin, Yujuan; Licence, Peter

Abstract

In this study, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy is used to probe the impact of the N3-substituted alkyl group on the electronic environment of the cation and the anion by comparing two types of imidazolium cations, 1-alkyl-3-butylimidazolium and 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium. Due to the more intense inductive effect changing from methyl to butyl, the electronic environment of the cationic nitrogen can be significantly affected, which is reflected in a shift of N 1s binding energy. The magnitude of the binding energy shift is found to be more pronounced in the case of the less basic anion and inversely proportional to the basicity of the anion. The increase of the N3-substituted alkyl chain length can also influence the charge-transfer effect from the anion to the cation. This gives rise to a change in the electronic environment of the anion. Such an impact is found to be concentrated on the anion-based component bearing more negative point charges.

Citation

Men, S., Jin, Y., & Licence, P. (2020). Probing the impact of the N3-substituted alkyl chain on the electronic environment of the cation and the anion for 1,3-dialkylimidazolium ionic liquids. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 22(30), 17394-17400. https://doi.org/10.1039/d0cp02325f

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 5, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Jul 24, 2020
• Publication Date: Aug 14, 2020
• Deposit Date: Nov 27, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 25, 2021
• Journal: Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics
• Print ISSN: 1463-9076
• Electronic ISSN: 1463-9084
• Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 22
• Issue: 30
• Pages: 17394-17400
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/d0cp02325f
• Keywords: Physical and Theoretical Chemistry; General Physics and Astronomy
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4786115
• Publisher URL: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2020/CP/D0CP02325F#!divAbstract