First study on the thermo-solvatochromism in aqueous 1-(1-Butyl)-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate: a comparison between the solvation by an ionic liquid and by aqueous alcohols

The thermo-solvatochromic behaviors of 2,6-diphenyl-4-(2,4,6-triphenylpyridinium-1-yl) phenolate, RB; 2,6-dichloro-4-(2,4,6-triphenylpyridinium-1-yl) phenolate, WB; 2,6-dibromo-4-( E)-2-(1-methylpyridinium-4-yl)ethenyl] phenolate, MePMBr 2; 2,6-dibromo-4-( E)-2-(1-n-octylpyridinium-4-yl)ethenyl] phenolate, OcPMBr 2, have been investigated in binary mixtures of the ionic liquid, IL, 1-(1-butyl)-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluorborate, BuMeIm]BF 4], and water (W), in the temperature range from 10 to 60 degrees C. Plots of the empirical solvent polarities, E T (probe) in kcal mol (-1), versus the mole fraction of water in the binary mixture, chi w, showed nonlinear, i.e., nonideal behavior. Solvation by these IL-W mixtures shows the following similarities to that by aqueous aliphatic alcohols: The same solvation model can be conveniently employed to treat the data obtained; it is based on the presence in the system-bulk medium and probe solvation shell of IL, W, and the "complex" solvent 1:1 IL-W. The origin of the nonideal solvation behavior appears to be the same, preferential solvation of the probe, in particular by the complex solvent. The strength of association of the IL-W complex, and the polarity of the IL are situated between the corresponding values of aqueous methanol and aqueous ethanol. Temperature increase causes a gradual desolvation of all probes employed. A difference between solvation by IL-W and aqueous alcohols is that probe-solvent hydrophobic interactions appear to play a minor role in case of the former mixture, probably because solvation is dominated by hydrogen-bonding and Coulombic interactions between the ions of the IL and the zwitterionic probes.