Structure of cyano-anion ionic liquids: X-ray scattering and simulations
Ionic liquids with cyano anions have long been used because of their unique combination of low-melting temperatures, reduced viscosities, and increased conductivities. Recently we showed that cyano anions in ionic liquids are particularly interesting for their potential use as electron donors to excited state photo-acceptors [B. Wu et al., J. Phys. Chem. B 119, 14790–14799 (2015)]. Here we report on bulk structural and quantum mechanical results for a series of ionic liquids based on the 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium cation, paired with the following five cyano anions: SeCN - , SCN - , N(CN) $-\atop{2}$ , C(CN) $-\atop{3}$ , and B(CN) $-\atop{4}$ . By combining molecular dynamics simulations, high-energy X-ray scattering measurements, and periodic boundary condition DFT calculations, we are able to obtain a comprehensive description of the liquid landscape as well as the nature of the HOMO-LUMO states for these ionic liquids in the condensed phase. Features in the structure functions for these ionic liquids are somewhat different than the commonly observed adjacency, charge-charge, and polarity peaks, especially for the bulkiest B(CN) $-\atop{4}$ anion. While the other four cyano-anion ionic liquids present an anionic HOMO, the one for Im $+\atop{2,1}$ /B(CN) $-\atop{4}$ is cationic.