Ionic Liquids Containing the Sulfonyl Fluoride Moiety: Integrating Chemical Biology with Materials Design

The persistent achievements of ionic liquids in various fields, including medicine and energy necessitate the efficient development of novel functional ionic liquids that exhibit favorable characteristics, alongside the development of practical and scalable synthetic methodologies. Ionic liquids are fundamentally understood as materials in which structure begets function, and the function and applicability of ILs is of utmost concern. It was recently reported that full fluorosulfonyl electrolyte is compatible with both the Li metal anode and the metal-oxide cathode that is crucial for the development of high-voltage rechargeable lithium-metal batteries. Inspired by these results, for the first time, we reported the synthesis of a series of ionic liquids with a sulfonyl fluoride motif using an highly effective and modular fluorosulfonylethylation procedure. Herein, we present a detailed analysis of novel sulfonyl fluoride-based ionic liquids paired with the hexafluorophosphate anion. We employed a combination of computational modeling and X-ray crystallographic studies to gain an in-depth understanding of their structure-property correlations.

Automated summary

The continuous achievements of ionic liquids in various fields necessitate the development of new functional ionic liquids and practical synthetic methodologies. A recent study reported the compatibility of a full fluorosulfonyl electrolyte with a Li metal anode and metal-oxide cathode, crucial for high-voltage rechargeable lithium-metal batteries. Inspired by this, a series of sulfonyl fluoride-based ionic liquids were synthesized for the first time using an effective fluorosulfonylethylation procedure. Through computational modeling and X-ray crystallography, a detailed analysis of their structure-property correlations was presented.