The Proton Dissociation of Bio-Protic Ionic Liquids: [AAE]X Amino Acid Ionic Liquids

[AAE]X composed of amino acid ester cations is a sort of typically “bio-based” protic ionic liquids (PILs). They possess potential Brønsted acidity due to the active hydrogens on their cations. The Brønsted acidity of [AAE]X PILs in green solvents (water and ethanol) at room temperature was systematically studied. Various frameworks of amino acid ester cations and four anions were investigated in this work from the viewpoint of structure–property relationship. Four different ways were used to study the acidity. Acid dissociation constants (pK_a) of [AAE]X determined by the OIM (overlapping indicator method) were from 7.10 to 7.73 in water and from 8.54 to 9.05 in ethanol. The pK_a values determined by the PTM (potential titration method) were from 7.12 to 7.82 in water. Their Hammett acidity function (H₀) values (0.05 mol·L⁻¹) were about 4.6 in water. In addition, the pK_a values obtained by the DFT (proton-transfer reactions) were from 7.11 to 7.83 in water and from 8.54 to 9.34 in ethanol, respectively. The data revealed that the cationic structures of [AAE]X had little effect and the anions had no effect on the acidity of [AAE]X. At the same time, the OIM, PTM, Hammett method and DFT method were reliable for determining the acidic strength of [AAE]X in this study.     

Molecular dynamics simulations of the structure and transport properties of tetra-butylphosphonium amino acid ionic liquids

Systematic molecular dynamics simulations are used to study the structure, dynamics and transport properties of the ionic liquids composed of the tetra-butylphosphonium ([TBP](+), or [P(C(4)H(9))(4)](+)) cation with six amino acid ([AA](-)) anions. The structural features of these ionic liquids were characterized by calculating the partial site-site radial distribution functions, g(r), and computing the dihedral angle distribution of n-butyl side chains in the [TBP](+) cations. The dynamics of the ionic liquids are described by studying the velocity autocorrelation function (VACF) and the mean-square displacement (MSD) for the centers of mass of the ions at different temperatures. The ionic diffusion coefficients and the electrical conductivities were evaluated from both the Einstein and Green-Kubo methods. The cross-correlation terms in the electric-current autocorrelation functions, which are an indication of the ion pair correlations, are investigated. The cationic transference numbers were also estimated to study the contributions of the anions and cations to the transport of charge in these ionic liquids. We determined the role of the amino acid anion structures on the dynamical behavior and the transport coefficients of this family of ionic liquids. In general, the MSD and self-diffusion coefficients of the relatively heavier non-planar [TBP](+) cations are smaller than those of the lighter amino acid anions. Introducing polar functional groups (acid or amide) in the side chain of [AA](-) decreases the diffusion coefficient and electrical conductivity of AAILs. The major factors for determining the magnitude of the transport coefficients are the chemical functionality and the length of the alkyl side chain of the [AA](-) anion of these [TBP][AA] ionic liquids.     

Alkali cation extraction by calix[4]crown-6 to room-temperature ionic liquids. The effect of solvent anion and humidity investigated by molecular dynamics simulations

We report a molecular dynamics study on the solvation of M+ (Na+ to Cs+) alkali cations and of their LM+ complexes with a calix[4]arene host (L = 1,3-dimethoxy-calix[4]arene-crown-6 in the 1,3-alternate conformation) in the [BMI][PF6] and [BMI][Tf2N] room-temperature ionic liquids "ILs" based on the BMI+ (1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium) cation. The comparison of the two liquids and the dry versus humid form of the former one (with a 1:1 ratio of H2O and BMI+PF6- species) reveals the importance of humidity: in [BMI][PF6]-dry as in the [BMI][Tf2N] liquid, the first solvation shell of the "naked" M+ ions is composed of solvent anions only (four PF6- anions, and from four to five Tf2N- anions, respectively, quasi-neutralized by a surrounding cage of BMI+ cations), while in the [BMI][PF6]-humid IL, it comprises from one to three solvent anions and about four H2O molecules. In the LM+ complexes, the cation is shielded from solvent, but still somewhat interacts with a solvent anion in the dry ILs and with water in the humid IL. We also report tests on M+ interactions with solvent anions PF6- and Tf2N- in the gas phase, showing that the AMBER results are in satisfactory agreement with QM results obtained at different levels of theory. The question of ion recognition by L is then examined by free energy perturbation studies in the three liquids, predicting a high Cs+/Na+ selectivity upon liquid extraction from an aqueous phase, in agreement with experimental results on a parent calixarene host. A similar Cs+/Na+ selectivity is predicted upon complexation in a homogeneous IL phase, mainly due to the desolvation energy of the free cations. Thus, despite their polar character, ionic liquids qualitatively behave as classical weakly polar organic liquids (e.g., choroform) as far as liquid-liquid extraction is concerned but more like polar liquids (water, alcohols) as far as complexation in a single phase is concerned.     

Solvation of uranyl(II), europium(III) and europium(II) cations in "basic" room-temperature ionic liquids: a theoretical study

We report a molecular dynamics study of the solvation of UO2(2+), Eu3+ and Eu2+ ions in two "basic" (Lewis acidity) room-temperature ionic liquids (IL) composed of the 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium cation (EMI+) and a mixture of AlCl4- and Cl- anions, in which the Cl-/AlCl4- ratio is about 1 and 3, respectively. The study reveals the importance of the [UO2Cl4]2- species, which spontaneously form during most simulations, and that the first solvation shell of europium is filled with Cl- and AlCl4- ions embedded in a cationic EMI+ shell. The stability of the [UO2Cl4]2- and [Eu(III)Cl6]3- complexes is supported by quantum mechanical calculations, according to which the uranyl and europium cations intrinsically prefer Cl- to the AlCl4- ion. In the gas phase, however, [Eu(III)Cl6]3- and [Eu(II)Cl6]4- complexes are predicted to be metastable and to lose two to three Cl- ions. This contrasts with the results of simulations of complexes in ILs, in which the "solvation" of the europium complexes increases with the number of coordinated chlorides, leading to an equilibrium between different chloro species. The behavior of the hydrated [Eu(OH2)8]3+ complex is considered in the basic liquids; the complex exchanges H2O molecules with Cl- ions to form mixed [EuCl3(OH2)4] and [EuCl4(OH2)3]- complexes. The results of the simulations allow us to better understand the microscopic nature and solvation of lanthanide and actinide complexes in "basic" ionic liquids.     

Brönsted酸性离子液体催化酯化反应研究

合成了以2-吡咯烷酮和N-甲基咪唑为阳离子([Hnhp]＋和[Hmim]＋), , 和 为阴离子的一系列Brönsted酸性离子液体. 考察了这些离子液体的热稳定性和酸性. 以乙酸和异戊醇酯化合成乙酸异戊酯的反应考察了不同离子液体分别在不分水与分水条件下的催化效果, 结果表明, 不分水时, 当醇/酸/[Hnhp]HSO4物质的量比为1.2∶1∶0.2, 100 ℃下回流反应2 h, 酯收率可达93.6%, 反应结束后[Hnhp]HSO4体系可以顺利分相, [Hnhp]BF4则不能; 分水时, [Hnhp]BF4可与酯自动分相, 当醇/酸/[Hnhp]BF4物质的量比为1.2∶1∶0.01, 120 ℃下回流反应1.5 h时, 酯收率可达96.8%, 比相同条件下[Hnhp]HSO4的略高. 这两种体系中的离子液体均具有良好的重复使用性能. 实验中还探讨了不同离子液体的酸性和催化酯化反应后与酯产物的分相效果对其催化活性的影响, 结果表明, 离子液体的酸性和与酯的不可混溶性对其在不同体系中酯化反应的催化活性有不同程度的影响. 此外, 在上述不分水酯化条件(醇∶酸∶催化剂物质的量比均为1.2∶1∶0.2, 100 ℃油浴)下回流浸渍6 h比较离子液体[Hnhp]HSO4/BF4, [Hmim]HSO4/BF4和硫酸对奥氏体316不锈钢的腐蚀性, 测得离子液体腐蚀率比硫酸低; 除了[Hnhp]BF4, 离子液体[Hnhp]HSO4, [Hmim]HSO4和[Hmim]BF4的腐蚀性呈现随酸性递减而下降的趋势. 所测离子液体中[Hnhp]BF4腐蚀性最高. [Hnhp]BF4和硫酸中试样的腐蚀率分别为20.1和41.8 g/(m2•h).     

Dispersion and Hydrogen Bonding Rule: Why the Vaporization Enthalpies of Aprotic Ionic Liquids Are Significantly Larger than those of Protic Ionic liquids

It is well known that gas‐phase experiments and computational methods point to the dominance of dispersion forces in the molecular association of hydrocarbons. Estimates or even quantification of these weak forces are complicated due to solvent effects in solution. The dissection of interaction energies and quantification of dispersion interactions is particularly challenging for polar systems such as ionic liquids (ILs) which are characterized by a subtle balance between Coulomb interactions, hydrogen bonding, and dispersion forces. Here, we have used vaporization enthalpies, far‐infrared spectroscopy, and dispersion‐corrected calculations to dissect the interaction energies between cations and anions in aprotic (AILs), and protic (PILs) ionic liquids. It was found that the higher total interaction energy in PILs results from the strong and directional hydrogen bonds between cation and anion, whereas the larger vaporization enthalpies of AILs clearly arise from increasing dispersion forces between ion pairs.     

Ion Pairing in Protic Ionic Liquids Probed by Far‐Infrared Spectroscopy: Effects of Solvent Polarity and Temperature

The cation–anion and cation–solvent interactions in solutions of the protic ionic liquid (PIL) [Et₃NH][I] dissolved in solvents of different polarities are studied by means of far infrared vibrational (FIR) spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The dissociation of contact ion pairs (CIPs) and the resulting formation of solvent‐separated ion pairs (SIPs) can be observed and analyzed as a function of solvent concentration, solvent polarity, and temperature. In apolar environments, the CIPs dominate for all solvent concentrations and temperatures. At high concentrations of polar solvents, SIPs are favored over CIPs. For these PIL/solvent mixtures, CIPs are reformed by increasing the temperature due to the reduced polarity of the solvent. Overall, this approach provides equilibrium constants, free energies, enthalpies, and entropies for ion‐pair formation in trialkylammonium‐containing PILs. These results have important implications for the understanding of solvation chemistry and the reactivity of ionic liquids.     

Hydrogen bonding mediated ion pairs of some aprotic ionic liquids and their structural transition in aqueous solution

Ion pair speciation of ionic liquids(ILs) has an important effect on the physical and chemical properties of ILs and recognition of the structure of ion pairs in solution is essential. It has been reported that ion pairs of some ILs can be formed by hydrogen bonding interactions between cations and anions of them. Considering the fact that far-IR(FIR) spectroscopy is a powerful tool in indicating the intermolecular and intramolecular hydrogen bonding, in this work, this spectroscopic technique has been combined with molecular dynamic(MD) simulation and nuclear magnetic resonance hydrogen spectroscopy(~1H NMR) to investigate ion pairs of aprotic ILs [Bmim][NO_3], [BuPy][NO_3], [Pyr_(14)][NO_3], [PP_(14)][NO_3] and [Bu-choline][NO_3] in aqueous IL mixtures. The FIR spectra have been assigned with the aid of density functional theory(DFT) calculations, and the results are used to understand the effect of cationic nature on the structure of ion pairs. It is found that contact ion pairs formed in the neat aprotic ILs by hydrogen bonding interactions between cation and anion, were still maintained in aqueous solutions up to high water mole fraction(say 0.80 for [BuPy][NO3]). When water content was increased to a critical mole fraction of water(say 0.83 for [BuPy][NO3]), the contact ion pairs could be transformed into solvent-separated ion pairs due to the formation of the hydrogen bonding between ions and water. With the further dilution of the aqueous ILs solution, the solvent-separated ion pairs was finally turned into free cations and free anions(fully hydrated cations or anions). The concentrations of the ILs at which the contact ion pairs were transformed into solvent-separated ion pairs and solvent-separated ion pairs were transformed into free ions(fully hydrated ion) were dependent on the cationic structures. These information provides direct spectral evidence for ion pair structures of the aprotic ILs in aqueous solution. MD simulation and ~1H NMR results support the conclusion drawn from FIR spectra investigations.     

A computational study of ion speciation in mixtures of protic ionic liquids with various molecular solvents: Insight into the solvent polarity and anion basicity

The ion pairing state of the ionic liquids greatly depends on the cosolvent which subsequently affects the properties and the functionalities. Density functional calculations have been performed to study the ion pairing formation process of protic ionic liquids (PILs) ([Et₃NH][CH₃SO₃]/TEAMS or [Et₃NH][CF₃SO₃]/TEATF) dissolved in different solvents. The clusters involving the cation, anion, and different number of solvent molecules have been used to simulate the contact ion pairs (CIPs) and the solvent‐separated ion pairs (SIPs) in the mixtures with varying solvent concentrations. The geometric, energetic data, and the natural bond orbital analysis suggest the smallest number of the water molecules required to break the TEAMS CIPs is four, while it is three for TEATF. This is consistent with the experimental prediction that if the mixture of TEAMS and water was replaced by TEATF and water, the transition process began at a lower water concentration. Furthermore, the calculated results also confirm that the weakly polar organic solvents favor the CIP form at all solvent concentrations, while the high polarity solvents promote dissociation of the CIP to generate the SIP form for particular PILs. The different separation nature of the given solvents can be interpreted in terms of their distinct hydrogen bond donor and acceptor abilities.     

Dissecting the Vaporization Enthalpies of Ionic Liquids by Exclusively Experimental Methods: Coulomb Interaction,Hydrogen Bonding,and Dispersion Forces

The quantification of hydrogen bonding and dispersion energies from vaporization enthalpies is a great challenge. Dissecting interaction energies is particularly difficult for ionic liquids (ILs), for which the composition of the different types of interactions is known neither for the liquid nor for the gas phase. In this study, we demonstrate the existence of ion pairs in the gas phase and dissect the interaction energies exclusively from measured vaporization enthalpies of different alkylated protic ILs (PILs) and aprotic ILs (AILs) and the molecular analogues of their cations. We demonstrate that the evaporated ion pairs are characterized by H‐bond‐enhanced Coulomb interaction. The overall interaction energy for the ILs in the bulk phase is composed of Coulomb interaction (76 kJ mol^?1), hydrogen bonding (38 kJ mol^?1), and minor dispersion interaction (10 kJ mol^?1). Thus, hydrogen bonding prominently contributes to the overall interaction energy of PILs, which is reflected in the properties of this class of liquids.     

Aqueous Solutions of Ionic Liquids: Microscopic Assembly

Aqueous solutions of ionic liquids are of special interest, due to the distinctive properties of ionic liquids, in particular, their amphiphilic character. A better understanding of the structure–property relationships of such systems is hence desirable. One of the crucial molecular‐level interactions that influences the macroscopic behavior is hydrogen bonding. In this work, we conduct molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the effects of ionic liquids on the hydrogen‐bond network of water in dilute aqueous solutions of ionic liquids with various combinations of cations and anions. Calculations are performed for imidazolium‐based cations with alkyl chains of different lengths and for a variety of anions, namely, [Br]^?, [NO₃]^?, [SCN]^?, [BF₄]^?, [PF₆]^?, and [Tf₂N]^?. The structure of water and the water–ionic liquid interactions involved in the formation of a heterogeneous network are analyzed by using radial distribution functions and hydrogen‐bond statistics. To this end, we employ the geometric criterion of the hydrogen‐bond definition and it is shown that the structure of water is sensitive to the amount of ionic liquid and to the anion type. In particular, [SCN]^? and [Tf₂N]^? were found to be the most hydrophilic and hydrophobic anions, respectively. Conversely, the cation chain length did not influence the results.     

Solvation of uranyl(II) and europium(III) cations and their chloro complexes in a room-temperature ionic liquid. A theoretical study of the effect of solvent "humidity"

We report a molecular dynamics study of the solvation of the UO2(2+) and Eu3+ cations and their chloro complexes in the [BMI][PF6][H2O] "humid" room-temperature ionic liquid (IL) composed of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium+ and PF6- ions and H2O in a 1:1:1 ratio. When compared to the results obtained in dry [BMI][PF6], the present results reveal the importance of water. The "naked" cations form UO2(H2O)5(2+) and Eu(H2O)9(3+) complexes, embedded in a shell of 7 and 8 PF6- anions, respectively. All studied UO2Cln(2-n) and EuCln(3-n) chloro complexes remain stable during the dynamics and coordinate additional H2O molecules in their first shell. UO2Cl4(2-) and EuCl6(3-) are surrounded by an "unsaturated" water shell, followed by a shell of BMI+ cations. According to an energy component analysis, the UO2Cl4(2-) and EuCl6(3-) species, intrinsically unstable toward dissociation, are more stable than their less halogenated analogues in the IL solution, due to the solvation forces. The different chloro species also interact better with the humid than with the dry IL, which hints at the importance of solvent humidity to improve their solubility. Humidity markedly modifies the local ion environment, with major consequences as far as their spectroscopic properties are concerned. We finally compare the aqueous interface of [BMI][PF6] and [OMI][PF6] ionic liquids, demonstrating the importance of imidazolium substituents (N-butyl versus N-octyl) to the nature of the interface and miscibility with water.     

Hydrogen bonds in imidazolium ionic liquids

It is critically important to understand the structural properties of ionic liquids. In this work, the structures of cations, anions, and cation-anion ion-pairs of 1,3-dialkylimidazolium based ionic liquids were optimized systematically at the B3LYP/6-31+G level of DFT theory, and their most stable geometries were obtained. It was found that there exist only one-hydrogen-bonded ion-pairs in single-atomic anion ionic liquids such as [emim]Cl and [emim]Br, while one- and two-hydrogen-bonded ion-pairs in multiple atomic anion ionic liquids such as [emim]BF(4) and [emim]PF(6) exist. Further studies showed that the cations and anions connect each other to form a hydrogen-bonded network in 1,3-dialkylimidazolium halides, which has been proven by experimental measurement. Furthermore, the correlation of melting points and the interaction energies was discussed for both the single atomic anion and multiple atomic anion ionic liquids.     

Comparison of physicochemical properties of new ionic liquids based on imidazolium, quaternary ammonium, and guanidinium cations

More than 50 ionic liquids were prepared by using imidazolium, quaternary ammonium, and guanidinium cations and various anions. In these series, different cationic structures such as 1-benzyl-3-methylimidazolium [Bzmim]+, 1,3-dibenzylimidazolium [BzmiBz]+, 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium [C8mim]+, 1-decyl-3-methylimidazolium [C10mim]+, tricapryl-methylammonium [Aliquat]+, benzyltriethylammonium [BzTEA]+, phenyltrimethylammonium [PhTMA]+, and dimethyldihexylguanidinium [DMG]+ were combined with anions, p-toluenesulfonate [TSA](-), dicyanoamide [DCA]-, saccharine (2-sulfobenzoic acid imide sodium salt) [SAC]-, trifluoroacetate [TFA]-, bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide [Tf2N]-, trifluoromethanesulfonate [TfO]-, and thiocyanate [SCN]-. Important physical data for these ionic liquids are collated, namely solubility in common solvents, viscosity, density, melting point and water content. Apart from the viscosity, the Newtonian and non-Newtonian behavior of these ionic liquids is also disclosed. Stability of these ionic liquids under thermal, basic, acidic, nucleophilic, and oxidative conditions was also studied. The features of the solid-liquid phase transition were analyzed, namely the glass transition temperature and the heat capacity jump associated with the transition from the non-equilibrium glass to the metastable supercooled liquid. A degradation temperature of each ionic liquid was also determined. Comparisons of the properties of various ionic liquids were made.     

Structure Effects on the Ionicity of Protic Ionic Liquids

We report on the characterisation of 16 protic ionic liquids (PILs) prepared by neutralisation of primary or tertiary amines with a range of simple carboxylic acids, or salicylic acid. The extent of proton transfer was greater for simple primary amine ILs compared to tertiary amines. For the latter case, proton transfer was increased by providing a better solvation environment for the ions through the addition of a hydroxyl group, either on the tertiary amine, or by formation of PIL/molecular solvent mixtures. The library of PILs was characterised by differential scanning calorimetry and a range of transport properties (i. e. viscosity, conductivity and diffusivity) were measured. Using the (fractional) Walden rule, the conductivity and viscosity results were analysed with respect to their deviation from ideal behaviour. The validity of the Walden plot for PILs containing ions of varying sizes was also verified for a number of samples by directly measuring self-diffusion coefficients using pulsed-field gradient spin-echo (PGSE) NMR. Ionicity was found to decrease as the alkyl chain length and degree of branching of both the cations and anions was increased. These results aim to develop a better understanding of the relationship between PIL properties and structure, to help design ILs with optimal properties for applications.     

Transport properties of protic ionic liquids,pure and in aqueous solutions: Effects of the anion and cation structure

Ionic conductivities of twelve protic ionic liquids (PILs) and their mixtures with water over the whole composition range are reported at 298.15 K and atmospheric pressure. The selected PILs are the pyrrolidinium-based PILs containing nitrate, acetate or formate anions; the formate-based PILs containing diisopropylethylammonium, amilaminium, quinolinium, lutidinium or collidinium cations; and the pyrrolidinium alkylcarboxylates, [Pyrr][C_nH_2n+1COO] with n = 5–8. This study was performed in order to investigate the influence of molecular structures of the ions on the ionic conductivities in aqueous solutions. The ionic conductivities of the aqueous solutions are 2–30 times higher than the conductivities of pure PILs. The maximum in conductivity varies from ww=0.41 ??to ??0.74$w_w=0.41\text{\hspace{0.17em}??}\text{to}\text{\hspace{0.17em}??}0.74$ and is related to the nature of cations and anions. The molar conductance and the molar conductance at infinite dilution for (PIL + water) solutions are then determined. Self-diffusion coefficients of the twelve protic ionic liquids in water at infinite dilution and at 298.15 K are calculated by using the Nernst–Haskell, the original and the modified Wilke–Chang equations. These calculations show that similar values are obtained using the modified Wilke–Chang and the Nernst–Haskell equations. Finally, the effective hydrodynamic (or Stokes) radius of the PILs was determined by using the Stokes–Einstein equation. A linear relationship was established in order to predict this radius as a function of the anion alkyl chain length in the case of the pyrrolidinium alkylcarboxylates PILs.     

Effects of protic ionic liquids on the oxygen reduction reaction – a key issue in the development of intermediate-temperature polymer-electrolyte fuel cells

Intermediate-temperature polymer-electrolyte fuel cells (IT-PEFCs), operated at an elevated temperature of ≈120 °C, would enable simplified system design and a potential increase in fuel cell performance compared to state-of-the-art low-temperature (LT-)PEFCs. As LT-PEFC membranes rely on the presence of water and high-temperature (HT-)PEFCs suffer from sluggish oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) kinetics, alternative materials must be developed. Promising candidates are protic ionic liquids (PILs) immobilized in, e.g., a host polymer. PILs’ properties, such as weak ion adsorption, high acidity of the proton-carrying ion, an excess of the anion precursor, and a high oxygen diffusivity and solubility, are favorable for achieving high ORR rates. Concepts proposed in the literature for incorporating PILs into MEA components are presented herein, and their utility for future IT-PEFCs is discussed.     

A New Category of Liquid Salt--Liquid Ionic Phosphates (LIPs)

Starting with polycationic ammonium and phosphonium salts bearing halide anions previously synthesized in our laboratory, we have prepared a new category of nonaqueous ionic liquids. These new nonaqueous ionic liquids bear either free phosphate anions or partially esterified phosphate anions as the counterions to the ammonium or phosphonium cations. We generally refer to these new species as LIPs (liquid ionic phosphates). We have developed three approaches toward the syntheses of these materials from the halide salts: one using hexafluorophosphoric acid;; a classical ion exchange method; and treatment with the free phosphorus-containing acid under vacuum. The new LIPs, although highly viscous, exhibit significantly high specific conductivities. Unlike ionic liquids bearing tetrafluoroborate of tetrachloroaluminate anions, the LIPs are unreactive toward water. Further, the LIPs bearing simple phosphate anions are soluble in water, unlike their corresponding hexafluorophosphate salts. We have also examined the UV/Vis, fluorescence, and mobility characteristics of the new LIPs.     

Molecular solvent effect on the acidity constant of protic ionic liquids

In this work how the microscopic properties of a molecular solvent affect the chemical environment of the protic ionic liquids (PILs) was analyzed. Using Reichardt’s dye as indicator of acidity, new acidity constant values for eight PILs (pK_a^PILs) were determined by spectrophotometric titration. Modifying the character hydrogen bonding donor of the molecular solvent it is possible to handle the PIL acid strength. Thus, we can turn basic PILs into acidic ones thereby the molecular solvent could be used as ‘additive’ for PILs, which allowed us to tune PILs design.