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Title: Influence of Solute Charge and Pyrrolidinium Ionic Liquid Alkyl Chain Length on Probe Rotational Reorientation Dynamics

Journal Article · · Journal of Physical Chemistry B
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/jp4107553· OSTI ID:1134162

In recent years, the effect of molecular charge on the rotational dynamics of probe solutes in room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) has been a subject of growing interest. For the purpose of extending our understanding of charged solute behavior within RTILs, we have studied the rotational dynamics of three illustrative xanthene fluorescent probes within a series of N-alkylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([Cnmpyr][Tf2N]) RTILs with different n-alkyl chain lengths (n = 3, 4, 6, 8, or 10) using time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy decay. The rotational dynamics of the neutral probe rhodamine B dye lies between the stick and slip boundary conditions due to the influence of specific hydrogen bonding interactions. The rotation of the negatively-charged sulforhodamine 640 is slower than that of its positively-charged counterpart rhodamine 6G. An analysis based upon Stokes-Einstein-Debye hydrodynamics indicates that SR640 adheres to stick boundary conditions due to specific interactions, whereas the faster rotation of R6G is attributed to weaker electrostatic interactions. No dependence of the rotational dynamics on the solvent alkyl chain length was observed for any of the three dyes, suggesting that the specific interactions between dyes and RTILs are independent of this solvent parameter.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
DOE Contract Number:
DE-AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1134162
Journal Information:
Journal of Physical Chemistry B, Vol. 118, Issue 4; ISSN 1520--6106
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English