Ion Pairs of 1-Butyl-3-Methylimidazolium Triflate Do Not Dissociate in Propan-1-ol: A Vibrational Spectroscopic Viewpoint

Featured Application Understanding the structure-property relationships in mixtures of ionic liquids and molecular solvents is the key for a targeted design of optimized process fluids and electrolytes. Abstract Adding imidazolium ionic liquids to polar solvents such as alkyl alcohols usually results in the dissociation of ion pairs as cation-anion interactions are replaced, e.g., by ionOH hydrogen bonds. In this Communication, we apply Raman scattering and infrared absorption spectroscopy to an example binary system comprising 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate (triflate) and propan-1-ol. The spectra are analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA), excess spectroscopy, and spectral decomposition. The results provide evidence that the ion pairs of the ionic liquid do not dissociate in propan-1-ol, even at high dilution. Moreover, there are clear signs that the propan-1-ol hydrogen bonding network is disrupted in the presence of the ionic liquid as the hydroxyl groups predominantly interact with the sulfonate oxygen atoms.