Electrochemical behavior and differential pulse voltammetric determination of paracetamol at a carbon ionic liquid electrode

The electrochemical behavior of paracetamol in 0.1 M acetate buffer solution (pH 4.6) was investigated at a traditional carbon paste electrode (TCPE) and a carbon ionic liquid electrode (CILE) fabricated by replacing nonconductive organic binders with a conductive hydrophobic room temperature ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (BmimPF₆). The results showed that the CILE exhibited better reversibility for the electrochemical redox of paracetamol. The oxidation potential of paracetamol at the CILE is +0.462 V, which is approximately 232 mV lower than that at the TCPE; the oxidation peak current response is nine times higher than that at the TCPE. The differential pulse voltammetric determination of paracetamol at the CILE was established based on this behavior. After optimizing several important parameters controlling the performance of paracetamol at the CILE, the oxidation peak current versus paracetamol concentration at the CILE showed linearity in the range from 1.0 μM to 2.0 mM (R ²  = 0.9992) with a detection limit of 0.3 μM (S/N = 3). The method has been applied to the determination of paracetamol in tablets and urine samples and the average recovery of paracetamol was 98.5% and 99.3%, respectively. The proposed CILE showed good sensitivity and reproducible response without influence of interferents commonly existing in pharmaceutical and urine samples. Figure CV curves of paracetamol illustrate the enhanced electrochemical behavior of paracetamol at the CILE (b), which forms the basis for the differential pulse voltammetric determination of paracetamol     

Interfacial tension and wetting behavior of air/oil/ionic liquid systems

We measured the interfacial tension and the density of air/n-hexane, n-decane, 1-perfluorohexane/1-hexyl-3-methyl-imidazolium hexafluorophosphate systems as a function of temperature. From the air/ionic liquid surface tension values, it was suggested that Coulombic interaction between imidazolium cations and counter anions are not so much different between the surface and bulk. The density values indicated that the decrease of surface tension by saturating organics was closely correlated to the mutual solubility between ionic liquid and organics. Interfacial tension at the oil/ionic liquid interfaces suggested that ionic liquid molecules were more ordered at the oil/ionic liquid interfaces compared to the air/ionic liquid interfaces, but the decrease of the entropy due to the interfacial orientation of ionic liquid was compensated by the increase of the entropy due to the contact of different chemical species. The initial spreading coefficients and the Hamaker constants indicated that all the oil phases spread at the air/ionic liquid interfaces spontaneously, and form the complete wetting films.     

Aqueous immiscibility of cholinium chloride ionic liquid and Triton surfactants

The immiscibility windows of aqueous solutions containing the ionic liquid cholinium chloride (N_1112OHCl) and the non-ionic surfactants Triton X-100 and Triton X-102 have been determined by the cloud point method at temperatures ranging from T = (298.15 to 333.15) K. The experimental values have been correlated by using two well-known equations. The tie-lines have been ascertained by means of density and refractive indices measurement, and the experimental data have been modeled by the Othmer–Tobias, Bancroft and Setschenow equations. The use of cholinium chloride involves greater demixing capacity than other imidazolium-based ionic liquids.     

Influence of ionic liquid content on properties of dense polymer membranes

Pervaporation was used for removal of butan-1-ol from its 5 wt.% of aqueous solution, at which the concentration of Clostridium acetobutylicum starts to decrease. The polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane containing 0, 10, 20 or 30 wt.% of benzyl-3-butylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([BBIM][BF₄]) ionic liquid was used. Differential scanning calorimetry measurements showed that PDMS-[BBIM][BF₄] membranes (though optically homogeneous) contained PDMS and [BBIM][BF₄] phases. Pervaporation selectivity increased and total flux through membranes raised moderately with an increased content of [BBIM][BF₄] in PDMS-[BBIM][BF₄] membranes. Hence, immobilization of a proper ionic liquid in a membrane results in the creation of pervaporation membranes, effective in the removal of alcohol from fermentation broths.     

A green and novel procedure for the preparation of ionic liquid

A green and novel procedure is described for the preparation of a series of ionic liquid containing alkylimidazolium-based or N-alkylpyridinium-based cations and hexafluorophosphate-based or tetrafluoroborate-based anions in one-pot solvent-free conditions to give excellent yields with shortened time.     

Influence of water on the dissolution of cellulose in selected ionic liquids

Cellulose (7% water) was thoroughly dispersed in various ionic liquids (IL) and the turbidity of the mixture was investigated to distinguish real dissolution from fine dispersion. The dissolving ability of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (BMIMCl know cellulose solvent) and 11 other commercial IL (not reported as cellulose solvents) was studied. From the latter, only 1,3-dimethylimidazolium dimethylphosphate (DMIMDMP) could dissolve cellulose. The influence of water content on the real dissolution of cellulose in these two IL was investigated. The maximum theoretical amount of dissolved anhydrous cellulose in the IL was determined by extrapolation methodology at different temperatures. For cellulose in BMIMCl, it was 8.75 g/100 g of IL at 95 °C. DMIMDMP could achieve real cellulose dissolution only in a practically anhydrous system (2.3 g/100 g of IL at 30 °C) but dissolution was physically limited by high viscosity.     

Influence of organic solvents and temperature on the micellization of conventional and gemini surfactants: a conductometric study

The micellar behaviour of similar hydrophobic chain length conventional (cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide, CTAB; cetyl pyridinium chloride, CPC; cetyldimethylbenzyl ammonium chloride, C16BCl) and gemini surfactant (16-2-16) in water and polar non-aqueous solvents has been investigated in the temperature range 288.15–318.15 K with the help of conductivity measurements. The method proposed by Carpena et al. has been used to analyse the conductivity–concentration to determine the micellization parameters using critical micelle concentration (CMC) and degree of counter-ion dissociation (α) of the micelle. It shows much better performance than the conventional methods and the effect of experimental errors on the evaluation of the micellization parameters has been shown to be minimal by using this procedure. It was observed that the micellization tendency of the surfactant decreases in the presence of solvents. Thermodynamic parameters were also evaluated from the temperature dependence of the CMC values.     

Use of selective ionic liquids and ionic liquid/salt mixtures as entrainer in a (vapor + liquid) system to separate n-heptane from toluene

During the last years, a large number of studies have evaluated the ability of ionic liquids (ILs) to separate aromatic from aliphatic hydrocarbons by liquid extraction. Nevertheless, in order to design a global process, a post-extraction step based on the aromatic recovery from the extract stream and the regeneration of the IL is required. Taking into account the negligible vapor pressure of the ILs, the use of separation units based on the difference of volatility among the components of the extract could be an appropriate way. However, that requires additional (vapor + liquid) equilibrium (VLE) data, which are scarce today. In this work, the isothermal VLE data for {n-heptane + toluene + 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium thiocyanate ([EMim][SCN])} and {n-heptane + toluene + 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium thiocyanate ([BMim][SCN])} mixtures were experimentally measured at T = (323.2, 343.2 and 363.2) K over the whole composition range within the rich-IL miscibility region. For that, a static headspace gas chromatograph (HS-GC) was used. In addition, the non-random two liquids (NRTL) thermodynamic model was satisfactory applied to correlate the experimental VLE data.Finally, the effect of thiocyanate-based inorganic salts (AgSCN, Co(SCN)₂ and CuSCN) on the phase behavior of the above mentioned mixtures were also analyzed through the experimental determination of the isothermal VLE of the pseudo-ternary systems {n-heptane + toluene + [EMim][SCN]/salt mixture}.The obtained results show that the use of pure thiocyanate-based ILs as entrainer increases the n-heptane relative volatility from toluene whereas the addition of inorganic salts has not led to an improvement of these results.     

LiCl-Urea两元体系离子液体的研究

自从1914年第一种离子液体[EtNH3]NO3问世以来,室温离子液体的研究与应用取得了飞速的发展,离子液体以其诸多的优良性能,在催化、有机反应、萃取、以及气相色谱、电化学中得到了广泛地应用。近几年来,多元离子液体体系的研究受到关注。本文报导了由LiCl简单盐和Urea形成的二元体系离子液体,最低共熔点为55℃(LiCl的熔点是608℃,尿素本身的熔点是132℃)。     

Reduction of silanophilic interactions in liquid chromatography with the use of ionic liquids

A suppression of silanophilic interactions by the selected ionic liquids added to the mobile phase in thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is reported. Acetonitrile was used as the eluent, alone or with various concentrations of water and phosphoric buffer pH 3. Selectivity of the normal (NP) and the reversed (RP) stationary phase material was examined using a series of proton-acceptor basic drugs analytes. The ionic liquids studied appeared to significantly affect analyte retention in NP-TLC, RP-TLC and RP-HPLC systems tested. Consequently, the increased separation selectivity was attained. Due to ionic liquid additives to eluent even analytes could be chromatographed, which were not eluted from the silica-based stationary phase materials with 100% of acetonitrile in the mobile phase. Addition of ionic liquid already in very small concentration (0.5%, v/v) could reduce the amount of acetonitrile used during the optimization of basic analytes separations in TLC and HPLC systems. Moreover, the influence of temperature on the separation of basic analytes was demonstrated and considered in practical HPLC method development.     

Zooming in on the role of surfactants in droplet coalescence at the macroscale and microscale

Coalescence of dispersed micrometer-scale droplets is an essential step toward the separation of emulsions. The thin film between droplets must form, drain, and rupture for coalescence to occur. In surfactant-stabilized emulsions, the film drainage and droplet coalescence processes are known to be hindered because of reduced interfacial mobility. However, a clear correlation between this mobility and the underlying surfactant transport and interfacial response to shear and dilatational deformations is undercharacterized. For microscale droplets, the effect of surfactant transport to the interface and along the interface is often difficult to isolate from other bulk effects on emulsion stability. In this work, we review surfactant-mitigated coalescence in both macroscale and microscale experiments, highlighting the importance of interfacial curvature and length scales when establishing a correlation between coalescence theory and film mobility.     

The confinement and anion type effect on the physicochemical properties of ionic liquid/halloysite nanoclay ionogels

This work is the first attempt to study the physicochemical properties of ionogels - quasi-solid hybrid materials formed by ionic liquids (ILs) − 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium (BMIm⁺) salts with dicyanamide- (DCA⁻), bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide- (TFSI⁻), and trifluoromethanesulfonate- (Otf⁻) anions - and halloysite, a powdered clay filler with nanotube particles (at the IL:Hal molar ratio of 2:1) in order to find possible new applications of ionic liquids and industrial minerals. The electron microscopy, TG, and DSC analysis, FTIR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, conductometry and cyclic voltammetry methods are used to investigate the anion effect on the IL interaction with halloysite. It has, for the first time, been found that the distinguishing feature of halloysite interaction with an IL determining the structural changes in the clay mineral and electrochemical characteristics of the ionogels is partial dehydration of the clay and absorption of the released water by the ionic liquid. It is shown that the halloysite dehydration effect depends on the IL hydrophilicity determined by the anion type, corresponds to the series: BMImDCA > BMImOtf > BMImTFSI. The electrochemical and thermal behaviour of ILs confined within a halloysite matrix differs from that of bulk ILs and is controlled by the anion type. Temperature dependences of the structural resistance of the halloysite filler are radically different for the ILs with high and low hydrophilicity. The effects resulting from the formation of halloysite-based ionogels can be of interest to those who develop quasi-solid ionic conductors that can work within a wide temperature range.     

Influence of the ionic liquid structure on thiophene solubility

Binary liquid-liquid equilibria for 10 systems containing an ionic liquid with thiophene were measured by dynamic method in the temperature range from 283 K to the boiling point of thiophene. The influence of ionic liquid structure on solubility of thiophene is discussed in comparison with results taken from the literature. The solubility of thiophene in all investigated ionic liquids is high - below 0.31 ionic liquid mole fraction.     

Effects of cationic head groups of ionic liquid on micellization in aqueous solution of PEO-PPO-PEO triblock copolymer

The interaction of ionic liquids (ILs) with non-ionic triblock copolymer, Pluronic® P123 in aqueous solutions has been investigated using DLS, surface tension, and viscosity measurements. The addition of ILs increased the Critical Micelle Concentration (CMC) of P123, which appears to be logistic. As the added IL enhances the solubility of PPO moiety (and PEO), which makes them to behave like a more hydrophilic block copolymer that would be micellized at high copolymer concentration. The DLS data is in good agreement to the results observed from surface tension measurements. Viscosity results show the propensity in micellar size reduction upon addition of ILs, and hence, intrinsic viscosity decreases as compared to pure P123 aqueous solution. The results are studied and discussed as a function of cationic head groups of N-octyl-pyridinium/imidazolium chloride based ILs.     

离子液体双水相萃取山楂黄酮和多糖的相行为研究

用分光度法研究了[Bmim]BF4/(NH4)2SO4双水相体系萃取山楂黄酮和多糖的相行为,考察了同时提取这两种组分时[Bmim]BF4的浓度、(NH4)2SO4的浓度、山楂的用量、超声萃取时间等因素对双水相的上下相体积以及分配系数的影响。结果表明:(1)离子液体浓度的增加,双水相的上、下相体积分别明显增大和减小。但黄酮和多糖在双水相中的分配系数仅有波动,均小于5%;(2)硫酸铵浓度的增加,双水相的上下相体积分别明显减小和增大。同时黄酮和多糖的分配系数均有较明显先降低后升高的趋势;(3)山楂质量的增减,不影响双水相的形成,但存在一个实验条件下的溶出饱和值,该值为0.15g,此时黄酮和多糖的分配系数最大;(4)超声萃取时间的延长或缩短,同样不影响双水相的形成,但存在对山楂有效成分达到饱和溶出的阈值,对于黄酮为25min,多糖为20min。     

Description of the pVT behavior of ionic liquids and the solubility of gases in ionic liquids using an equation of state

A molecular thermodynamic model developed previously for fluids of chain-like molecules has been extended to correlate the pVT behavior of ionic liquids and the solubilities of gases such as CO₂, C₃H₆, C₃H₈, C₄H₁₀ in various ionic liquids. The relative deviation between the calculated molar volume and experimental data is less than 0.2%. It is shown that this equation of state can be used to correlate the solubility of CO₂ in ionic liquids with only one temperature-independent adjustable interaction parameter, and the accuracy of the correlation can be further improved using two temperature-independent adjustable parameters. The water content of ionic liquids has a large influence on the calculated results. For systems with water content lower than 0.1%, the average relative deviations of bubble point pressure are 3.14 and 4.90% using two parameters and one parameter, respectively. For systems containing C₃H₆, C₃H₈ and C₄H₁₀ two temperature dependent adjustable parameters are needed to obtain a good fit, and the corresponding deviation of the gas solubility is less than 2%, except for C₃H₈.     

The importance of complex stability for asymmetric copper-catalyzed cyclopropanations in [emim][OTf] ionic liquid: the bis(oxazoline)-azabis(oxazoline) case

Azabis(oxazoline)-Cu complexes are more stable than their analogues based on bis(oxazoline) ligands. This increased stability leads to improved recoverability (up to eight times) when these systems are used in an ionic liquid medium. The solution of the chiral catalyst can even be reused in different enantioselective cyclopropanation reactions and still lead to high enantiomeric excess (>90%).     

果糖一步转化制备呋喃基燃料：溶剂效应及离子液体修饰活性金属对产物选择性的决定作用

在众多生物基化合物中,2,5-二甲基呋喃(DMF)是一种有实用前景的可再生液体生物质燃料,也是一种具有重要价值的化学品,可作为生产对苯二甲酸的原料.2,5-二甲基四氢呋喃(DMTF)是DMF进一步加氢产物,该化合物比DMF更稳定,适合长期保存;由于具有更高的氢碳比,用作生物燃料燃烧时能够释放更多能量.研究生物质资源制备DMF和DMTF对可再生资源制备液体燃料和化学品具有重要意义.从生物质多糖出发制备这两类化合物,中间经历了水解、脱水、加氢、加氢脱氧等多个反应步骤,每一步反应都十分复杂,包含许多副反应途径.此外,由于每一步反应条件的不兼容性,大多数研究集中在分步反应阶段,鲜有文献能够实现从碳水化合物原料直接转化为DMF和DMTF.发展由生物质一锅法多步耦合转化技术制备化学品和燃料,不仅具有科学意义,而且可大大简化反应过程,避免中间产物分离和损失,节省资源和时间,历来受到化学家和工业界的关注.本文利用离子液体对Ru/C催化剂电子性质的修饰作用以及溶剂效应的影响,设计了离子液体/THF双相体系中果糖直接催化转化制备2,5-二甲基呋喃(DMF)和2,5-二甲基四氢呋喃(DMTF)的新路线.该转化过程耦合了果糖脱水制HMF、HMF加氢及加氢脱氧生成DMF和DMTF等多步反应.通常在HMF加氢转化过程中, Ru/C催化剂的高活性易导致HMF深度加氢生成大量开环产物及气体,我们借助离子液体与有机溶剂的不同溶解性,筛选出[BMIm]Cl/THF双相溶剂体系,使极性HMF在离子液体层反应,生成弱极性的DMF和DMTF能及时被THF萃取出来,有效稳定了目标产物.其次,果糖转化为HMF会产生少量水,通常水的存在易导致HMF发生水合等副反应,对下一步的加氢转化是不利因素;然而在本催化体系中,由于[BMIm]Cl能与水以较强的氢键结合形成水合物,对水分子起到了束缚作用,减少了HMF发生水解、水合等副反应的机会.另一方面,离子液体粘度较大,微量水的存在能降低离子液体层粘度,改善传质,从而提高反应速率.在HMF加氢处理过程中,离子液体对DMF和DMTF的生成起了决定作用.当反应体系中不添加离子液体,以THF为溶剂,反应结束后未检测到DMF生成, DMTF的收率仅为2%,但HMF已经完全转化.取气体样品进行GC分析,发现有部分气相产物生成,包括CO2、CH4和C2H6等.液体混合物进行GC-MS检测,发现产物主要包括DHMTF、5-甲基四氢糠醇(MTFA)、四氢糠醇(TFA)、1,2-戊二醇、DMTF、2-己醇和少量戊醇,产物中所有呋喃环结构的双键都发生加氢反应.以上结果表明,没有离子液体的THF中, Ru/C催化的HMF涉氢反应平衡已发生改变.当反应体系中添加0.2 g离子液体[BMIm]Cl进行HMF的加氢时,此时开始有DMF生成,随着[BMIm]Cl量依次增加, DMF以及DMTF的收率也呈上升趋势.1.0 g离子液体获得两种产物最高收率为68%.然而,如果进一步增加[BMIm]Cl的量到2.0 g,呋喃基液体燃料DMF和DMTF的收率却开始下降.综合以上实验结果,我们认为适量的[BMIm]Cl存在有可能会对催化剂物理化学性质造成影响,从而对产物的选择性起了决定性作用.通过对催化剂进行元素分析、XPS、H2-TPR表征以及一系列对比实验证明,离子液体不仅促进果糖脱水转化为HMF,同时在HMF选择性加氢反应中可修饰活性金属电子性质,改变催化路径,是多步串联反应能够耦合的关键因素.在[BMIm]Cl/THF双相溶剂体系中,离子液体的“溶剂笼效应”促进DMF和DMTF高效生成, THF的萃取功能对目标产物的稳定起了关键作用.以上对催化剂和溶剂的合理设计共同促进高产率呋喃基燃料的获得.该研究实现由六碳糖直接选择转化获取DMF和DMTF,为生物质高效催化转化制备生物基能源化学品提供了新思路.     

Improved solubilization of pyromellitic dianhydride and 4,4′-oxydianiline in ionic liquid by the addition of zwitterion and their polycondensation

Three different ionic liquids were prepared and examined as solvents for polyimide synthesis. The solubility of 4,4′-oxydianiline and pyromellitic dianhydride as starting materials in ionic liquids was first evaluated, and then their polycondensation was carried out. Although these starting materials were hardly soluble in 1-benzyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethane sulfonyl)imide (3), addition of imidazolium type zwitterion, 1-(1-butyl-3-imidazolio)butane-4-sulfonate (ZI), certainly improved their solubility. When 3 containing 40 mol % ZI was used, nothing was phase separated from this mixed solution containing both starting materials after cooling down to room temperature. After preparing prepolymer in 3 containing 40 mol % of ZI at room temperature, polycondensation was carried out in the same solution at 100, 200, and then 300 °C for every 1 h to obtain polyimide. An inherent viscosity of the obtained polyimide (0.05 g in 10 ml concentrated sulfuric acid) was 1.3 dL g⁻¹, higher than that prepared in only 3 (0.9 dL g⁻¹). The higher average molecular weight of the polyimide was attributed to the improved solubility of the starting materials by the addition of ZI that enabled the preparation of the prepolymer, poly(amide acid), without heating before imidation.