Ultraviolet photoionization efficiency of the vaporized ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tricyanomethanide: Direct detection of the intact ion pair

Steven D. Chambreau, Ghanshyam L. Vaghjiani, Christine J. Koh, Amir Golan, Stephen R. Leone

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present the first direct measurement of a neutral, intact ion pair photoionization efficiency (PIE) curve for a vaporized ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tricyanomethanide, using tunable vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) photoionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PI-TOFMS). The ionization potential (IP) for the ion pair is experimentally determined to be 6.6 ± 0.5 eV, which matches reasonably well with the adiabatic IP of 7.3 ± 0.2 eV calculated at the M06/6-31+G(d,p) level of theory. The lifetime to dissociation of the cation-radical complex formed upon ionization of the ion pair is highly dependent upon entropic contributions. Thermal gravimetric analyses (TGA) determined the enthalpy of vaporization to be ΔH vap(298 K) = 143.5 ± 6.2 kJ/mol and that vaporization of BMIM +TCM - as ion pairs is the dominant mechanism for mass loss under the experimental conditions for VUV PI-TOFMS (T = 433 K).

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2910-2914
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of Physical Chemistry Letters
Volume3
Issue number19
DOIs
StatePublished - 4 Oct 2012
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Materials Science
  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry

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