Thermo-solvatochromism in binary mixtures of water and ionic liquids: on the relative importance of solvophobic interactions

The thermo-solvatochromism of 2,6-dibromo-4-[(E)-2-(1-methylpyridinium-4-yl)ethenyl] phenolate, MePMBr2, has been studied in mixtures of water, W, with ionic liquids, ILs, in the temperature range of 10 to 60 degrees C, where feasible. The objectives of the study were to test the applicability of a recently introduced solvation model, and to assess the relative importance of solute-solvent solvophobic interactions. The ILs were 1-allyl-3-alkylimidazolium chlorides, where the alkyl groups are methyl, 1-butyl, and 1-hexyl, respectively. The equilibrium constants for the interaction of W and the ILs were calculated from density data; they were found to be linearly dependent on N-C, the number of carbon atoms of the alkyl group; van't Hoff equation (log K versus 1/T) applied satisfactorily. Plots of the empirical solvent polarities, E-T (MePMBr2) in kcal mol(-1), versus the mole fraction of water in the binary mixture, chi(w), showed non-linear, i.e., non-ideal behavior. The dependence of E-T (MePMBr2) on chi(w), has been conveniently quantified in terms of solvation by W, IL, and the complex solvent IL-W. The non-ideal behavior is due to preferential solvation by the IL and, more efficiently, by IL-W. The deviation from linearity increases as a function of increasing N-C of the IL, and is stronger than that observed for solvation of MePMBr2 by aqueous 1-propanol, a solvent whose lipophilicity is 12.8 to 52.1 times larger than those of the ILs investigated. The dependence on N-C is attributed to solute-solvent solvophobic interactions, whose relative contribution to solvation are presumably greater than that in mixtures of water and 1-propanol.