Vaporisation of a Dicationic Ionic Liquid Revisited

The vaporization of a dicationic ionic liquid at moderate temperatures and under reduced pressures -recently studied by line-of-sight mass spectrometry-was further analyzed using an ion-cyclotron resonance mass spectroscopy technique that allows the monitoring of the different species present in the gas phase through the implementation of controlled ion-molecule reactions. The results support the view that the vapour phase of an aprotic dicationic ionic liquid is composed of neutral ion triplets (one dication attached to two anions). Molecular dynamics simulations were also performed in order to explain the magnitude of the vaporization enthalpies of dicationic ionic liquids vis-a-vis their monocationic counterparts.