Synthesis and characterisation of imidazolium-based ionic liquid crystals bearing a cholesteryl mesogenic group

A series of cholesteryl-containing imidazolium chlorides and imidazolium tetrachloroaluminates were synthesised, and the chemical structure, liquid crystalline behaviour and ionic conductivity were characterised by several technical methods. Whereas the imidazolium chlorides show chiral smectic A (SmA*) phase on heating and cooling cycles, the imidazolium tetrachloroaluminates display chiral nematic (N*) phase, which is uncommon for ionic liquid crystals (ILCs). The imidazolium chlorides display similar phase transition temperature and entropy, indicating the cholesteryl component influence predominately on the phase transition rather than the different alkyl substituent groups. The imidazolium tetrachloroaluminates show lower melting point temperatures and lower clear point temperature than the imidazolium chlorides. The mesophases exist at rather moderate temperatures. Non-mesomorphic imidazolium tetrachloroaluminate(III) salts with short alkyl substituents have been known for a long time, and the synthesised imidazolium tetrachloroaluminates are the first examples of tetrahalogenoaluminate(III)-containing ILCs. For the imidazolium tetrachloroaluminates, imidazolium cations combine loosely with AlCl₄^? ions because AlCl₄^? ions are large and occupy more space in spite of the hydrogen bond and electrostatic attraction interaction, indicating that the layer structure can be destroyed easily to form N* phase on heating.     

1,3-二取代咪唑类离子液体熔点预测

以16种咪唑类四氟硼酸盐和22种咪唑类六氟磷酸盐为研究对象, 采用QSAR(quantitative structure-activity relationship)方法和遗传算法对其熔点与结构的定量构效关系进行了研究, 以实现对两类咪唑类离子液体熔点的预测. 建立的咪唑类四氟硼酸盐三参数模型相关系数R2为0.89, 咪唑类六氟磷酸盐四参数模型相关系数R2为0.85; 使用留一法对两模型进行内部验证的相关系数R2分别为0.82和0.77, 两预测模型具有真实有效性; 使用测试集对两模型进行外部验证, 所得两模型的平均预测绝对误差分别为11.43和7.78 K, 优于文献报道水平, 可得出结论, 两模型均具有较好的熔点预测能力.     

Abnormal ligand binding and reversible ring hydrogenation in the reaction of imidazolium salts with IrH(5)(PPh(3))(2)

We show that imidazolium salts do not always give normal or even aromatic carbenes on metalation, and the chemistry of these ligands can be much more complicated than previously thought. N,N'-disubstituted imidazolium salts of type [(2-py)(CH(2))(n)(C(3)H(3)N(2))R]BF(4) react with IrH(5)(PPh(3))(2) to give N,C-chelated products (n = 0, 1; 2-py = 2-pyridyl; C(3)H(3)N(2) = imidazolium; R = mesityl, n-butyl, i-propyl, methyl). Depending on the circumstances, three types of kinetic products can be formed: in one, the imidazole metalation site is the normal C2 as expected; in another, the metalation occurs at the abnormal C4 site; and in the third, C4 metalation is accompanied by hydrogenation of the imidazolium ring. The bonding mode is confirmed by structural studies, and spectroscopic criteria can also distinguish the cases. Initial hydrogen transfer can take place from the metal to the carbene to give the imidazolium ring hydrogenation product, as shown by isotope labeling; this hydrogen transfer proves reversible on reflux when the abnormal aromatic carbene is obtained as final product. Care may therefore be needed in the future in verifying the structure(s) formed in cases where a catalyst is generated in situ from imidazolium salt and metal precursor.     

An Imidazolium-Based Lipid Analogue as a Gene Transfer Agent

A dicationic imidazolium salt is described and investigated towards its application for gene transfer. The polar head group and the long alkyl chains in the backbone contribute to a lipid-like behavior, while an alkyl ammonium group provides the ability for crucial electrostatic interaction for the transfection process. Detailed biophysical studies regarding its impact on biological membrane models and the propensity of vesicle fusion are presented. Fluorescence spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy and confocal fluorescence microscopy show that the imidazolium salt leads to negligible changes in lipid packing, while displaying distinct vesicle fusion properties. Cell culture experiments reveal that mixed liposomes containing the novel imidazolium salt can serve as plasmid DNA delivery vehicles. In contrast, a structurally similar imidazolium salt without a second positive charge showed no ability to support DNA transfection into cultured cells. Thus, we introduce a novel and variable structural motif for cationic lipids, expanding the field of lipofection agents.     

Electron-Deficient Imidazolium Substituted Cp Ligands and their Ru Complexes

The synthesis of electron-poor mono-, di- and tri(imidazolium)-substituted Cp-ylides is presented and their electronic properties are discussed based on NMR spectroscopy, X-ray structure analyses, electrochemical investigations and DFT calculations as well as by their reactivity toward [Ru(CH₃CN)₃Cp*](PF₆). With mono- and di(imidazolium)-substituted cyclopentadienides the respective monocationic and dicationic ruthenocences are formed (X-ray), whereas tri(imidazolium) cyclopentadienides are too electron-poor to form the ruthenocenes. Cyclic voltammetric analysis of the ruthenocenes shows reversible oxidation at a potential that increases with every additional electron-withdrawing imidazolium substituent at the Cp ligand by 0.53–0.55 V in an electrolyte based on a weakly coordinating anion. A reversible oxidation can be observed for the free 1,3-disubstituted ligand as well.     

Periodic imidazolium‐bridged hybrid monolith for high‐efficiency capillary liquid chromatography with enhanced selectivity

A novel periodic imidazolium‐bridged hybrid monolithic column was developed. With diene imidazolium ionic liquid 1‐allyl‐3‐vinylimidazolium bromide as both cross‐linker and organic functionalized reagent, a new periodic imidazolium‐bridged hybrid monolithic column was facilely prepared in capillary with homogeneously distributed cationic imidazolium by a one‐step free‐radical polymerization with polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane methacryl substituted. The successful preparation of the new column was verified by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, elemental analysis, and surface area analysis. Most interestingly, the bonded amount of 1‐allyl‐3‐vinylimidazolium bromide of the new column is three times higher than that of the conventional imidazolium‐embedded hybrid monolithic column and the specific surface area of the column reached 478 m²/g. The new column exhibited high stability, excellent separation efficiency, and enhanced separation selectivity. The column efficiency reached 151 000 plates/m for alkylbenzenes. Furthermore, the new column was successfully used for separation of highly polar nucleosides and nucleic acid bases with pure water as mobile phase and even bovine serum albumin tryptic digest. All these results demonstrate the periodic imidazolium‐bridged hybrid monolithic column is a good separation media and can be used for chromatographic separation of small molecules and complex biological samples with high efficiency.     

Ambident Reactivity of Imidazolium Cations as Evidence of the Dynamic Nature of N-Heterocyclic Carbene-Mediated Organocatalysis

This work reveals ambident nucleophilic reactivity of imidazolium cations towards carbonyl compounds at the C2 or C4 carbene centers depending on the steric properties of the substrates and reaction conditions. Such an adaptive behavior indicates the dynamic nature of organocatalysis proceeding via a covalent interaction of imidazolium carbenes with carbonyl substrates and can be explained by generation of the H-bonded ditopic carbanionic carbenes.     

Electrostatic and Non‐covalent Interactions in Dicationic Imidazolium–Sulfonium Salts with Mixed Anions

A series of thioether‐functionalised imidazolium salts have been prepared and characterized. Subsequent reaction of the thioether‐functionalised imidazolium salts with iodomethane affords imidazolium–sulfonium salts composed of doubly charged cations and two different anions. Imidazolium–sulfonium salts containing a single anion type are obtained either by a solvent extraction method or by anion exchange. The imidazolium–sulfonium salts undergo a methyl‐transfer reaction on exposure to water, giving rise to a new, singly charged imidazolium salt with iodide introduced at the 2‐position of the imidazolium ring. Crystal structures of some of the imidazolium–sulfonium salts were determined by X‐ray crystallography providing the topology of the interactions between the dications and the anions. Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and quantum‐chemical calculations were used to rationalise the relative strength of these interactions.     

Revelation from the Reaction of 1,4‐Diazabutadiene with Perchloric Acid: An Approach to the Synthesis of Imidazolium Perchlorates

The reactions of 1,4‐diazabutadienes 1 with HClO₄ were studied in detail. The final products obtained were not the hydroperchlorates of 1 but imidazolium perchlorates 2 or 3 . A possible reaction process is postulated on the basis of the isolation of the intermediate 2‐iminomethylimidazolium salt 4 . The factors influencing the conversion of 4 to the imidazolium perchlorates 2 and 3 were discussed with regard to the electronic and steric effects of the N‐substituents. This reaction can serve as an approach for the synthesis of imidazolium derivatives.     

Transmembrane anion transport mediated by adamantyl-functionalised imidazolium salts

We present the design, synthesis and transmembrane anion transport properties of a new class of mobile organic transporters, possessing a central imidazolium cation and two external adamantyl units. We demonstrate herein that the imidazolium cation can be incorporated in the structure of active mobile anion transporters. Depending on the nature of the counter-anion of the salt, as well as the extravesicular anions, different anion selectivities were obtained. We show the importance of the H2 proton of the imidazolium cation in order to obtain a higher binding constant of the chloride anion. Furthermore, we demonstrate the importance of the flexibility of the spacers between the adamantyl groups and the imidazolium cation in the transport process.     

Parallel synthesis of tri- and tetrasubstituted ureas from carbamoyl imidazolium salts

A method for producing tri- and tetrasubstituted ureas from carbamoyl imidazolium salts is presented. Carbamoyl imidazolium salts are prepared from the reaction of N,N carbonyldiimidazole (CDI) with secondary amines, followed by alkylation with iodomethane. These stable salts can be stored for extended periods and are effective electrophilic carbamoylation reagents. Primary and secondary amines add to carbamoyl imidazolium salts at room temperature to give tri- and tetrasubstituted ureas in excellent yields. This reaction was used to synthesize ureas using both liquid-liquid extraction and solid-phase extraction (cation exchange) purification techniques. Liquid-liquid extraction affords the product ureas more cleanly than cationic exchange. A series of urea compounds were synthesized using parallel synthesis techniques in high yields and with suitable purity for routine in vitro biological tests. These studies validate the utility of carbamoyl imidazolium salts as useful building blocks for combinatorial library synthesis.     

Imidazolium receptors for the recognition of anions

This tutorial review covers imidazolium receptors for anion recognition according to their topological and structural classification, and includes benzene tripodal, cyclophane and calix-imidazolium, fluorescent imidazolium, ferrocenyl imidazolium, cavitand and calixarene, and polymeric imidazolium systems.     

季戊四醇衍生的咪唑鎓化合物的合成及其对阴离子的光谱响应

咪唑鎓本身带有正电荷,2-位碳氢(C2-H)具有一定的酸性,是一种良好的氢键供体,能与阴离子形成氢键。因此,咪唑鎓可以识别各种无机阴离子和生物体内重要的阴离子。本文利用四(1-咪唑甲基)甲烷的独特结构,通过烷基化反应,合成了多咪唑鎓盐2、含有多功能臂的双咪唑鎓盐3和咪唑鎓环番4。采用荧光发射光谱法研究了咪唑鎓盐2、3、4对阴离子(Cl~-、Br~-、I~-、CH_3COO~-、PhCOO~-、HSO_4~-)的光谱响应。结果表明,咪唑鎓盐2和咪唑鎓环番4a加入Cl~-,荧光强度明显增强;咪唑鎓盐3a加入PhCOO~-,荧光强度明显减弱;咪唑鎓盐3b和咪唑鎓环番4b加入I~-,荧光强度明显增强。     

1H-1,2,4-Triazole as solvent for imidazolium methanesulfonate

The solvation effect of 1H-1,2,4-triazole towards imidazolium methanesulfonate was studied by blending imidazolium methanesulfonate and 1H-1,2,4-triazole. Upon addition of 1H-1,2,4-triazole, the melting point of imidazolium methanesulfonate was lowered to less than 100 °C while maintaining the high ionic conductivity for a wide composition range of the blend. The ionic conductivity of the blend can be adequately described by using the Vogel-Fulcher-Tamman equation. A vehicle mechanism is postulated to govern the proton conduction for the blend. The contribution of protons to the ionic conductivity was corroborated electrochemically. The blend exhibited electrochemical activities for H(2) oxidation and O(2) reduction at a Pt electrode, as well as a wide electrochemical window. Therefore, suitable blends can possibly serve as electrolytes for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells operating under non-humidifying conditions. The solvation effect studied herein suggests a promising approach to a wider application area of protic ionic liquids.     

Design and synthesis of fused-ring chiral ionic liquids from amino acid derivatives

Six novel imidazolium salts, which contain a chiral moiety as well as a fused-ring system, have been designed, synthesized, and fully characterized. The synthesis of these ionic liquids is concise and practical due to the commercial availability of the starting materials. These imidazolium compounds were readily prepared from 1-methyl-2-imidazoliumcarboxaldehyde and chiral amino alcohols. Salts that contain the PF₆ anion were solids, but salts with the NTf₂ anion were liquids at room temperature. We envision that these new chiral imidazolium compounds can serve as effective reaction media as well as chiral catalysts for asymmetric reactions, which are presently being investigated in our lab.     

Some 1-substituted quaternary imidazolium compounds and related polymers: Qualitative and quantitative infrared analysis

It was found that 1-substituted quaternary imidazolium compounds show some characteristic infrared (IR) activity. On quarternization of 1-substituted imidazoles strong absorption bands appeared at about 1150 and 1550 cm^?1 in the IR spectra of these compounds. The band at 1150 cm^?1 was assigned to the position 2 C?H bending mode and the 1550 cm^?1 band was attributed to a ring vibration mode of the quaternary imidazolium compounds. The concentration of the quaternary imidazolium units in a polymer can be determined by measuring the intensity of the absorption bands at 1150 or 1550 cm^?1 in relation to another suitable absorption band of the spectrum.     

Photophysical Properties of Lanthanide (Eu3+, Tb3+) Hybrid Soft Gels of Double Functional Linker of Ionic Liquid–Modified Silane

Four kinds of luminescent hybrid soft gels have been assembled by introducing the lanthanide (Eu³⁺, Tb³⁺) tetrakis β‐diketonate into the covalently bonded imidazolium‐based silica through electrostatic interactions. Here, the imidazolium‐based silica matrices are prepared from imidazolium‐derived organotriethoxysilanes by the sol–gel process, in which the imidazolium cations are strongly anchored within the silica matrices while anions can still be exchanged following application for functionalization of lanthanide complexes. The photoluminescence measurements indicated that these hybrid soft gels exhibit characteristic red and green luminescence originating from the corresponding ternary lanthanide ions (Eu³⁺, Tb³⁺). Further investigation of photophysical properties reveals that these soft gels have inherited the outstanding luminescent properties from the lanthanide tetrakis β‐diketonate complexes such as strong luminescence intensities, long lifetimes and high luminescence quantum efficiencies.     

Degradation of polylactide using basic ionic liquid imidazolium acetates

Imidazolium acetate ionic liquids show high efficiency in the degradation of polylactides (PLA): degradation degree of PLA can reach almost 100 % in imidazolium acetate ionic liquids at 170°C and 1 h under atmospheric pressure, while the degradation degree of PLA remains close to 0 % using neutral 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([Bmim]BF4) and acidic ionic liquids at the same reaction conditions. With the increase of both the amount of acetate ionic liquid and the reaction temperature, the degradation degree of PLA increases. The structure of ionic liquids affects the degradation behavior of PLA: for cations, the proton from the C-2 position on the imidazolium ring is involved in the degradation of PLA; the degradation of PLA increases with the increase of the alkyl side-chain length of imidazolium cations; for anions, moderate basicity of the acetate ion contributes to the high activity of the imidazolium acetate ionic liquids in the degradation of PLA.     

A highly efficient catalytic system for cross-coupling of aryl chlorides and bromides with malononitrile anion by palladium carbene complexes

Six imidazolium chlorides (1-6) as precursors of 1,3-diaryl substituted N-heterocyclic carbene ligands were synthesized and evaluated in palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions of aryl chlorides and bromides with malononitrile in the presence of NaH. Among them, 1,3-bis(2,4,6-triethylphenyl)imidazolium chloride (5) and 1,3-bis(2,4,6-triisopropylphenyl)imidazolium chloride (6) are novel. The catalytic system combining Pd(0) with imidazolium salts 4, 5 and 6 with bulky aryl groups in pyridine is found to be superior over others and afforded alpha-arylmalononitriles in high yields when employing a wide variety of substrates.     

High-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of imidazolium and pyridinium oximes in plasma and urine

Imidazolium oximes are useful in the treatment of organophosphorus agent poisoning. However, the extant methods for analyzing oximes in plasma and urine samples are not adequate. A unique high-performance liquid chromatographic assay method was developed for quantitating either imidazolium or pyridinium oximes. Plasma or urine samples can be injected directly onto the column after a centrifugation filtration step. This method demonstrates a different approach in the method development for quaternary ammonium compounds using non-end-capped reversed-phase columns and a mobile phase containing competing cations. In addition, a preliminary pharmacokinetic study of the imidazolium oxime in rabbits was carried out using this method.