The effect of hydration on the stability of ionic liquid crystals: MD simulations of [C14C1im]Cl and [C14C1im]Cl·H2O

The thermal range of the stability of Ionic Liquid Crystal (ILC) phases of imidazolium ILCs, and the type of the mesophase itself are affected by several molecular structural features, the two prominent ones being the alkyl chain length and the counter-anion. Hydration is also very important: monohydrate samples of 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium halides have a higher clearing point and a wider thermal range of the stability of the ionic smectic phase, compared with the analogous anhydrous sample. To understand the reasons, at a microscopic level, for such increased stability due to hydration, we run classical Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations of a typical ionic liquid crystal, 1-tetradecyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride, and of its monohydrate form. We tested a full-charge non-polarizable force field and a scaled-charge version having the total charge of the ions scaled by a factor of 0.80. Comparison of the structural and dynamic properties with available experimental data reveals that the scaling of the charge by a factor of 0.80 results in a good agreement between simulated and experimental data and it sheds light on the microscopic mechanism responsible for the increased stability of the monohydrated phase. A hydrogen-bond network between water and the chloride anion is established in the ionic layer which increases the stability of the ionic layer; this in turn increases the nano-segregation between the ionic and hydrophobic layers which eventually produce an increased order of the alkylic layer as well.

Ion Dissociation in Ionic Liquids and Ionic Liquid Solutions

The extent to which cations and anions in ionic liquids (ILs) and ionic liquid solutions are dissociated is of both fundamental scientific interest and practical importance because ion dissociation has been shown to impact viscosity, density, surface tension, volatility, solubility, chemical reactivity, and many other important chemical and physical properties. When mixed with solvents, ionic liquids provide the unique opportunity to investigate ion dissociation from infinite dilution in the solvent to a completely solvent-free state, even at ambient conditions. The most common way to estimate ion dissociation in ILs and IL solutions is by comparing the molar conductivity determined from ionic conductivity measurements such as electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) (which measure the movement of only the charged, i.e., dissociated, ions) with the molar conductivity calculated from ion diffusivities measured by pulse field gradient nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (PFG-NMR, which gives movement of all of the ions). Because the NMR measurements are time-consuming, the number of ILs and IL solutions investigated by this method is relatively limited. We have shown that use of the Stokes-Einstein equation with estimates of the effective ion Stokes radii allows ion dissociation to be calculated from easily measured density, viscosity, and ionic conductivity data (ρ, η, λ), which is readily available in the literature for a much larger number of pure ILs and IL solutions. Therefore, in this review, we present values of ion dissociation for ILs and IL solutions (aqueous and nonaqueous) determined by both the traditional molar conductivity/PFG-NMR method and the ρ, η, λ method. We explore the effect of cation and anion alkyl chain length, structure, and interaction motifs of the cation and anion, temperature, and the strength of the solvent in IL solutions.

Microstructural and Dynamical Heterogeneities in Ionic Liquids

Ionic liquids (ILs) are a special category of molten salts solely composed of ions with varied molecular symmetry and charge delocalization. The versatility in combining varied cation-anion moieties and in functionalizing ions with different atoms and molecular groups contributes to their peculiar interactions ranging from weak isotropic associations to strong, specific, and anisotropic forces. A delicate interplay among intra- and intermolecular interactions facilitates the formation of heterogeneous microstructures and liquid morphologies, which further contributes to their striking dynamical properties. Microstructural and dynamical heterogeneities of ILs lead to their multifaceted properties described by an inherent designer feature, which makes ILs important candidates for novel solvents, electrolytes, and functional materials in academia and industrial applications. Due to a massive number of combinations of ion pairs with ion species having distinct molecular structures and IL mixtures containing varied molecular solvents, a comprehensive understanding of their hierarchical structural and dynamical quantities is of great significance for a rational selection of ILs with appropriate properties and thereafter advancing their macroscopic functionalities in applications. In this review, we comprehensively trace recent advances in understanding delicate interplay of strong and weak interactions that underpin their complex phase behaviors with a particular emphasis on understanding heterogeneous microstructures and dynamics of ILs in bulk liquids, in mixtures with cosolvents, and in interfacial regions.

The Effect of Phenyl Substitutions on Microstructures and Dynamics of Tetraalkylphosphonium Bis(trifluoro- methylsulfonyl)imide Ionic Liquids

Extensive atomistic simulations demonstrated that a gradual substitution of hexyl chains with phenyl groups in tetraalkylphosphonium cations results in remarkable changes in hydrogen bonding interactions, liquid structures and scattering structural functions, and rotational dynamics of hexyl chains and phenyl groups in tetraalkylphosphonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ionic liquids. Hydrogen donor sites in hexyl chains present competitive characteristics with those in phenyl groups in coordinating anions, as well as their continuous and intermittent hydrogen bonding dynamics. Cation-cation and anion-anion spatial correlations show concomitant shift to short distances with decreased peak intensities with variations of cation structures, whereas cation-anion correlations have a distinct shift to large radial distances due to decreased associations of anions with neighboring cations. These microstructural changes are qualitatively manifested in shifts of prominent peaks for prevalent charge alternations and adjacency correlations between ion species in scattering structural functions. Meanwhile, rotational dynamics of hexyl chains speed up, which, in turn, slow down rotations of phenyl groups, whereas anions exhibit imperceptible changes in their rotational dynamics. These computational results are intrinsically correlated with conformational flexibilities, molecular sizes, and steric hindrance effects of phenyl groups in comparison with hexyl chains, and constrained distributions of anions around cations in heterogeneous ionic environments.

How Molecular Chiralities of Bis(mandelato)borate Anions Affect Their Binding Structures With Alkali Metal Ions and Microstructural Properties in Tetraalkylphosphonium Ionic Liquids

Spiroborate anion-based inorganic electrolytes and ionic liquids (ILs) have fascinating electrochemical and tribological properties and have received widespread attention in industrial applications. The molecular chiralities of spiroborate anions have a significant effect on the microstructures and macroscopic functionalities of these ionic materials in application and thus deserve fundamental consideration. In the current work, we performed quantum chemistry calculations to address the binding strength and coordination structures of chiral bis(mandelato)borate ([BMB]) anions with representative alkali metal ions, as well as the electronic properties of alkali metal ion-[BMB] ion pair complexes. The optimized [BMB] conformers are categorized into V-shaped, bent, and twisted structures with varied electrostatic potential contours and conformational energies and distinct alkali metal ion-[BMB] binding structures. Alkali metal ions have additional associations with phenyl groups in V-shaped [BMB] conformers owing to preferential cation-π interactions. Furthermore, the effects of the molecular chiralities of [BMB] anions on the thermodynamics and microstructural properties of tetraalkylphosphonium [BMB] ILs were studied by performing extensive atomistic interactions. Oxygen atoms in [BMB] anions have competitive hydrogen bonding interactions with hydrogen atoms in cations depending on the molecular chiralities and steric hindrance effects of [BMB] anions. However, the molecular chiralities of [BMB] anions have a negligible effect on the liquid densities of tetraalkylphosphonium [BMB] ILs and the spatial distributions of boron atoms in anions around phosphorous atoms in cations. Enlarging tetraalkylphosphonium cation sizes leads to enhanced cation-anion intermolecular hydrogen bonding and Coulombic interactions due to enhanced segregation of polar groups in apolar networks in heterogeneous IL matrices, as verified by scattering structural functions.

Feature vector clustering molecular pairs in computer simulations

A clustering framework is introduced to analyze the microscopic structural organization of molecular pairs in liquids and solutions. A molecular pair is represented by a representative vector (RV). To obtain RV, intermolecular atom distances in the pair are extracted from simulation trajectory as components of the key feature vector (KFV). A specific scheme is then suggested to transform KFV to RV by removing the influence of permutational molecular symmetry on the KFV as the predicted clusters should be independent of possible permutations of identical atoms in the pair. After RVs of pairs are obtained, a clustering analysis technique is finally used to classify all the RVs of molecular pairs into the clusters. The framework is applied to analyze trajectory from molecular dynamics simulations of an ionic liquid (trihexyltetradecylphosphonium bis(oxalato)borate ([P_6,6,6,14 ][BOB])). The molecular pairs are successfully categorized into physically meaningful clusters, and their effectiveness is evaluated by computing the product moment correlation coefficient (PMCC). (Willett, Winterman, and Bawden, J. Chem. Inf. Comput. Sci. 1986, 26, 109-118; Downs, Willett, and Fisanick, J. Chem. Inf. Comput. Sci. 1994, 34, 1094-1102) It is observed that representative configurations of two clusters are related to two energy local minimum structures optimized by density functional theory (DFT) calculation, respectively. Several widely used clustering analysis techniques of both nonhierarchical (k-means) and hierarchical clustering algorithms are also evaluated and compared with each other. The proposed KFV technique efficiently reveals local molecular pair structures in the simulated complex liquid. It is a method, which is highly useful for liquids and solutions in particular with strong intermolecular interactions. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.