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Introducing redox-active moieties into an ionic liquid (IL) structure is an exciting and attractive approach that has received increasing interest over recent years for a various range of energy applications. The so-called redox-active ionic liquids (RAILs) provide a highly versatile platform to potentially create multifunctional electroactive materials. Ionic liquids are molten salts consisting of ionic species, often having a melting point lower than 100 °C. Such liquids are obtained by combining a bulky asymmetric organic cation and a small anion. Here, we report on the synthesis of a novel RAIL, namely 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hydroquinone sulfonate ((BMIM)(HQS)). (BMIM)(HQS) was synthesized in a two-step procedure, starting by the quaternization of methylimidazole using butylchloride to produce 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ((BMIM)(Cl)), and followed by the anion exchange reaction, where the chloride anion is exchanged with hydroquinone sulfonate. The resulting product was characterized by 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR, FT-IR spectroscopy, themogravimetric analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry, and shows a high stability up to 340 °C. Its electrochemical behavior was investigated using cyclic voltammetry at different temperatures and its viscosity analysis was also performed at variable temperatures. The electrochemical response of the presented RAIL was found to be temperature dependent and diffusion controlled. Overall, our results demonstrated that (BMIM)(mix of HQS and HSQ) is redox active and possesses high stability and low volatility, leading to the employment of this RAIL without any additional supporting electrolyte or additives.

Transition-metal catalysts immobilized on the surface of Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are being utilized for an ever-increasing number of reactions ranging from couplings to olefin oligomerization. While these reactions are usually performed in solution, unlike their homogeneous counterparts, the insolubility of the MOF systems makes it difficult to obtain detailed mechanistic information by in situ spectroscopic analysis in solution. In this report, we present a synthetic method to solubilize these systems by grafting oligomers on the surface of the MOF particles, making it possible to characterize these species by transmission infrared (IR) spectroscopy. The fundamental photochemistry of these catalysts was also studied and compared to that of their homogeneous counterparts. This work establishes a proof of principle for in-solution monitoring of heterogeneous catalysts.

In the vanadium oxyfluoride compound (NH_{4})_{2}[C_{7}H_{14}N][V_{7}O_{6}F_{18}] (DQVOF), the V^{4+} (3d^{1}, S=1/2) ions realize a unique, highly frustrated breathing kagome lattice composed of alternately sized, corner-sharing equilateral triangles. Here we present an ^{17}O NMR study of DQVOF, which isolates the local susceptibility of the breathing kagome network. By a fit to series expansion, we extract the ratio of the interactions within the breathing kagome plane, J_{∇}/J_{Δ}=0.55(4), and the mean antiferromagnetic interaction J[over ¯]=60(7)  K. Spin lattice (T_{1}) measurements reveal an essentially gapless excitation spectrum with a maximum gap Δ/J[over ¯]=0.007(7). Our study provides new impetus for further theoretical investigations in order to establish whether the gapless spin liquid behavior displayed by DQVOF is intrinsic to its breathing kagome lattice or whether it is due to perturbations to this model, such as a residual coupling of the V^{4+} ions in the breathing kagome planes to the interlayer V^{3+} (S=1) spins.

The ionothermal synthesis, structure, and magnetic susceptibility of a novel inorganic-organic hybrid material, imidazolium vanadium(III,IV) oxyfluoride [C3 H5 N2 ][V9 O6 F24 (H2 O)2 ] (ImVOF) are presented. The structure consists of inorganic vanadium oxyfluoride slabs with kagome layers of V(4+) S=${{ 1/2 }}$ ions separated by a mixed valence layer. These inorganic slabs are intercalated with imidazolium cations. Quinuclidinium (Q) and pyrazinium (Pyz) cations can also be incorporated into the hybrid structure type to give QVOF and PyzVOF analogues, respectively. The highly frustrated topology of the inorganic slabs, along with the quantum nature of the magnetism associated with V(4+) , means that these materials are excellent candidates to host exotic magnetic ground states, such as the highly sought quantum spin liquid. Magnetic susceptibility measurements of all samples suggest an absence of conventional long-range magnetic order down to 2 K despite considerable antiferromagnetic exchange., (© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

A new organically-templated vanadium(III) fluoride, (NH4)2(C2H8N)[V3F12], has been prepared using an ionothermal approach. This compound has a unique layered structure featuring distorted S = 1 kagome planes separated by the cationic species. The compound exhibits magnetic frustration, with a canted antiferromagnetic ground state. On further cooling in the ground state a pronounced change in magnetisation kinetics is observed.

There are only limited reports on vanadium(iv) oxyfluorides (VOFs) with extended crystal structures. Here we expand and enrich the list of existing VOFs with a series of 14 new materials "VOF-n (n = 1-14)" prepared using ionothermal and solvothermal synthesis methods. All of these materials arise from the condensation of a dimeric structural motif. These VOFs can be classified into three groups depending on their key structural features; layer structures: VOF-1"[HN2C7H6][V2O2F5]", VOF-2"[HN2C4H4][V2O2F5]", VOF-3"[HN2C3H4][V2O2F5]" and VOF-4"V2(N2C4H4)O2F4", ladder like structures: VOF-5"[NH4(HN2C3H4)][V2O2F6]", VOF-6"[K(HN2C3H4)][V2O2F6]", VOF-7"[HNH2CH2CH3][VOF3]", VOF-8"[HN2C7H6][VOF3]", VOF-9"[H2N2C4H6][V2O2F6]", VOF-10"β-RbVOF3", VOF-11"α-KVOF3", VOF-12"β-KVOF3", VOF-13"[H2(NH2)2(CH2)2][V2O2F6]", and a chain structure: VOF-14"[H2N2C6H12][V2O2F7]". The crystal structures of VOF-n are presented, and their synthetic and structural relationships are discussed.

The vanadium oxyfluoride [NH(4)](2)[C(7)H(14)N][V(7)O(6)F(18)] (DQVOF) is a geometrically frustrated magnetic bilayer material. The structure consists of S = 1/2 kagome planes of V(4+) d(1) ions with S = 1 V(3+) d(2) ions located between the kagome layers. Muon spin relaxation measurements demonstrate the absence of spin freezing down to 40 mK despite an energy scale of 60 K for antiferromagnetic exchange interactions. From magnetization and heat capacity measurements we conclude that the S = 1 spins of the interplane V(3+) ions are weakly coupled to the kagome layers, such that DQVOF can be viewed as an experimental model for S = 1/2 kagome physics, and that it displays a gapless spin liquid ground state.

Frustrated magnetic lattices offer the possibility of many exotic ground states that are of great fundamental importance. Of particular significance is the hunt for frustrated spin-1/2 networks as candidates for quantum spin liquids, which would have exciting and unusual magnetic properties at low temperatures. The few reported candidate materials have all been based on d(9) ions. Here, we report the ionothermal synthesis of [NH(4)](2)[C(7)H(14)N][V(7)O(6)F(18)], an inorganic-organic hybrid solid that contains a S = 1/2 kagome network of d(1) V(4+) ions. The compound exhibits a high degree of magnetic frustration, with significant antiferromagnetic interactions but no long-range magnetic order or spin-freezing above 2 K, and appears to be an excellent candidate for realizing a quantum spin liquid ground state in a spin-1/2 kagome network.

An exploratory study of the synthesis of vanadium (oxy)fluorides (VOFs) using ionic liquids (ILs) and deep eutectic mixtures (DESs) as a solvent yielded 10 different materials. The previously reported chain type: (NH(4))(2)VF(5) (1), (NH(4))(2)VOF(4) (2), NH(4)VO(3) (3) and (H(2)NH(2)(CH(2))(2)NH(2))VF(5) (9) have been successfully produced for the first time using ILs as the reaction media. The monomeric (HNH(2)CH(3))(2)VOF(4)(H(2)O) (4), the dimer (HNH(2)CH(3))(4)V(2)O(2)F(8) (5) and the 1D chains (HNH(2)CH(3))(2)VF(5) (6), (H(2)O)(2)VF(3) (7), α-(H(2)NH(2)(CH(2))(2)NH(2))VOF(4) (8) and β-(H(2)NH(2)(CH(2))(2)NH(2))VOF(4) (10) are novel materials. Template control has also been achieved by the selective choice of ILs or the appropriate deep eutectic mixture, where the expected template is delivered to the reaction by the partial breakdown of the urea derivative portion of the DES.