Search

A deep-eutectic solvent with the properties of an ionic liquid is formed when choline chloride is mixed with copper(II) chloride dihydrate in a 1:2 molar ratio. EXAFS and UV-vis-near-IR optical absorption spectroscopy have been used to compare the coordination sphere of the cupric ion in this ionic liquid with that of the cupric ion in solutions of 0.1 M of CuCl(2)·2H(2)O in solvents with varying molar ratios of choline chloride and water. The EXAFS data show that species with three chloride ions and one water molecule coordinated to the cupric ion as well as species with two chloride molecules and two water molecules coordinated to the cupric ion are present in the ionic liquid. On the other hand, a fully hydrated copper(II) ion is formed in an aqueous solution free of choline chloride, and the tetrachlorocuprate(II) complex forms in aqueous choline chloride solutions with more than 50 wt % of choline chloride. In solutions with between 0 and 50 wt % of choline chloride, mixed chloro-aquo complexes occur. Upon standing at room temperature, crystals of CuCl(2)·2H(2)O and of Cu(choline)Cl(3) formed in the ionic liquid. Cu(choline)Cl(3) is the first example of a choline cation coordinating to a transition-metal ion. Crystals of [choline](3)[CuCl(4)][Cl] and of [choline](4)[Cu(4)Cl(10)O] were also synthesized from molecular or ionic liquid solvents, and their crystal structures were determined.

The mechanisms by which ions are transported through polymer electrolytes are poorly understood. Structural information should greatly aid in the determination of such mechanisms and the optimization of the electrolyte properties. Ionic conductivity, however, predominates in amorphous polymer-salt phases, and characterization of amorphous solvate structures is difficult. The task is simplified by comparisons with crystalline poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-salt phases, but the structural determination of such phases is also difficult because single crystals have not been available. Here, it is demonstrated that single crystals of PEO-lithium salt phases may be prepared and characterized using low molecular weight PEO.

A procedure for the preparation of high-quality single crystals from concentrated glyme mixtures is presented. Anhydrous single crystals of LiNO(3) and LiClO(4) were prepared in this manner, and the single-crystal structure of LiClO(4) (orthorhombic, Pnma, a = 8.6447(12) A, b = 6.8512(10) A, c = 4.8254(7) A, Z = 4) was determined as an example. This procedure is expected to be widely applicable for not only salts but also a wide range of other materials solvated by glymes.

The E configuration of benzylidene(diphenylmethylene)succinic anhydride (R = H), obtained by the Stobbe condensation of ethyl methyl diphenylmethylenesuccinate with benzaldehyde, was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Noncovalent pi stacking interaction between two stacked phenyl groups is suggested as a stabilizing energy for the highly crowded molecule. The nature and the position of substituents (R) on the aromatic rings of substituted benzaldehydes showed no effect on the E stereoselectivity in the condensation. [structure: see text]