A physicochemical investigation of ionic liquid mixtures.

Ionic liquids have earned the reputation of being 'designer solvents' due to the wide range of accessible properties and the degree of fine-tuning afforded by varying the constituent ions. Mixtures of ionic liquids offer the opportunity for further fine-tuning of properties. A broad selection of common ionic liquid cations and anions are employed to create a sample of binary and reciprocal binary ionic liquid mixtures, which are analysed and described in this paper.

A step towards the a priori design of ionic liquids.

A range of methods for the computational prediction of experimentally derived α and β Kamlet-Taft parameters, indicators of hydrogen bond (H-bond) acidity and basicity for ionic liquids (ILs) have been explored. Most usefully, a good correlation has been established between several simple and easily computed quantities which allow for a "quick bench-top" evaluation. More accurate, but also more sophisticated methods employing TD-DFT calculations involving the Kamlet-Taft dyes have been examined and evaluated.

Mixtures of ionic liquids.

Simple ionic liquids have long been held to be designer solvents, based upon the ability to independently vary their cations and anions. The formation of mixtures of ionic liquids increases this synthetic flexibility. We review the available literature of these ionic liquid mixtures to identify how their properties change and the possibility for their application.

Self-assembly in the electrical double layer of ionic liquids.

We have studied the structure of two ionic liquids confined between negatively charged mica sheets. Both liquids exhibit interfacial layering, however the repeat distance is dramatically different for the two liquids. Our results suggest a transition from alternating cation-anion monolayers to tail-to-tail cation bilayers when the length of the cation hydrocarbon chain is increased.

Understanding siloxane functionalised ionic liquids.

In this paper we use ab initio theoretical methods in combination with experimental studies to investigate ion-pairs of the ionic liquid (IL) 1-methyl-3-pentamethyldisiloxymethylimidazolium chloride [(SiOSi)C(1)C(1)im]Cl, in order to deepen our understanding of the effects of functionalisation on an IL. In addition, we focus on the effect of the siloxy group on the viscosity. We establish that the ion-pairing energies of [(SiOSi)C(1)C(1)im]Cl are similar to those of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride [C(4)C(1)im]Cl, because the anion interacts primarily with the imidazolium ring.

Intermediate spin ground state of an isosceles triangular [Mn(II)(3)] complex.

[{Mn(tmeda)}(3){GeSe(3)(OMe)}(2)] (), synthesized by the reaction of [K(4)(H(2)O)(3)][Ge(2)Se(6)] with MnCl(2).4H(2)O in MeOH-tmeda (tmeda = N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-1,2-diaminoethane), exhibits an isosceles triangular arrangement of Mn(2+) ions that are antiferromagnetically coupled with an S = 3/2 ground state.

Synthesis and properties of the tetranuclear palladium chalcogenolato-acetato complex [Pd(SePh)(OOCCH3)]4 with Pd-Pd bonding: an experimental and theoretical study.

The first tetranuclear palladium selenophenolate complex has been synthesized by reaction of palladium acetate with (PhSe)(3)Sn-(CH(2))(4)-Sn(SePh)(3) () in dichloromethane. represents a rectangular arrangement of the four Pd atoms bridged by four mu-bridging SePh and OAc groups each and is thermolyzed into a novel phase Pd(10)Se(7). The alternating distribution of acetate or selenophenolate bridges over the PdPd edges, that allows for the formation of two Pd-Pd bonds, was rationalized by quantum chemical investigations.