Dzmitry S. Firaha

Ion pairing in ionic liquids

In the present article we briefly review the extensive discussion in literature about the presence or absence of ion pair-like aggregates in ionic liquids. While some experimental studies point towards the presence of neutral subunits in ionic liquids, many other experiments cannot confirm or even contradict their existence. Ion pairs can be detected directly in the gas phase, but no direct method is available to observe such association behavior in the liquid, and the corresponding indirect experimental proofs are based on such assumptions as unity charges at the ions. However, we have shown by calculating ionic liquid clusters of different sizes that assuming unity charges for ILs is erroneous, because a substantial charge transfer is taking place between the ionic liquid ions that reduce their total charge. Considering these effects might establish a bridge between the contradicting experimental results on this matter. Beside these results, according to molecular dynamics simulations the lifetimes of ion-ion contacts and their joint motions are far too short to verify the existence of neutral units in these materials.

An abnormal N-heterocyclic carbene-carbon dioxide adduct from imidazolium acetate ionic liquids: the importance of basicity.

In the reaction of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate [C2C1Im][OAc] ionic liquid with carbon dioxide at 125 °C and 10 MPa, not only the known N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-CO2 adduct I, but also isomeric aNHC-CO2 adducts II and III were obtained. The abnormal NHC-CO2 adducts are stabilized by the presence of the polarizing basic acetate anion, according to static DFT calculations and ab initio molecular dynamics studies. A further possible reaction pathway is facilitated by the high basicity of the system, deprotonating the initially formed NHC-CO2 adduct I, which can then be converted in the presence of the excess of CO2 to the more stable 2-deprotonated anionic abnormal NHC-CO2 adduct via the anionic imidazolium-2,4-dicarboxylate according to DFT calculations on model compounds. This suggests a generalizable pathway to abnormal NHC complex formation.

Computer-Aided Design of Ionic Liquids as CO2 Absorbents†

Ionic liquids (ILs), vary strongly in their interaction with CO2. We suggest simple theoretical approach to predict the CO2 absorption behavior of ILs. Strong interaction of the CO2 with the IL anions corresponds to chemical absorption whereas weak interaction indicates physical absorption. A predictive estimate with a clear distinction between physical and chemical absorption can be simply obtained according to geometries optimized in the presence of a solvation model instead of optimizing it only in gas phase as has been done to date. The resulting Gibbs free energies compare very well with experimental values and the energies were correlated with experimental capacities. Promising anions, for ionic liquids with reversible CO2 absorption properties can be defined by a reaction Gibbs free energy of absorption in the range of -30 to 16 kJ mol(-1).

SO2 Solvation in the 1-Ethyl-3-Methylimidazolium Thiocyanate Ionic Liquid by Incorporation into the Extended Cation-Anion Network

We have carried out an ab initio molecular dynamics study on the sulfur dioxide (SO2) solvation in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium thiocyanate for which we have observed that both cations and anions play an essential role in the solvation of SO2. Whereas, the anions tend to form a thiocyanate- and much less often an isothiocyanate-SO2 adduct, the cations create a “cage” around SO2 with those groups of atoms that donate weak interactions like the alkyl hydrogen atoms as well as the heavy atoms of the

Can dispersion corrections annihilate the dispersion-driven nano-aggregation of non-polar groups? An ab initio molecular dynamics study of ionic liquid systems

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Carbene Formation in Ionic Liquids: Spontaneous, Induced, or Prohibited?

π-system. Despite these similarities between the solvation of SO2 and CO2 in ionic liquids, an essential difference was observed with respect to the acidic protons. Whereas CO2 avoids accepting hydrogen bonds form the acidic hydrogen atoms of the cations, SO2 can from O(SO2)–H(cation) hydrogen bonds and thus together with the strong anion-adduct it actively integrates in the hydrogen bond network of this particular ionic liquid. The fact that SO2 acts in this way was termed a linker effect by us, because the SO2 can be situated between cation and anion operating as a linker between them. The particular contacts are the H(cation)

CO2 Absorption in the Protic Ionic Liquid Ethylammonium Nitrate

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