Monoalkylammonium salts

The n values were high for all of the ionic liquids investigated (0.97-1.28) when compared to molecular solvents. The n values result from measuring the ability of the solvent to induce a dipole in a variety of solute species, and they will incorporate the Coulombic interactions from the ions as well as dipole-dipole and polarizability effects. This explains the consistently high values for all of the salts in the studies. The values for quaternary ammonium salts are lower than those for the monoalkylammonium salts. This probably arises from the ability of the charge center on the cation to approach the solute more closely for the monoalkylammonium salts. The values for the imidazolium salts are lower still, probably reflecting the delocalization of the charge in the cation. 

The difference in the hydrogen bond acidities and basicities was far more marked. The a value is largely determined by the availability of hydrogen bond donor sites on the cation. Values range from 0.8-0.9 for the monoalkylammonium salts, and are slightly lower (0.3-0.8) for the imidazolium salts. In the absence of a... 

The values for quaternary ammonium salts are lower than those for the mono-alkylammonium salts. This probably arises from the ability of the charge center on the cation to approach the solute more closely for the monoalkylammonium salts. 

Table 3.5-1 lists the E values for the alkylammonium thiocyanates and nitrates and the substituted imidazolium salts. It can be seen that the values are dominated by the nature of the cation. Eor instance, values for monoalkylammonium nitrates and thiocyanates are ca. 0.95-1.01, whereas the two tetraalkylammonium salts have values of ca. 0.42-0.46. The substituted imidazolium salts lie between these two extremes, with those with a proton at the 2-position of the ring having higher values than those with this position methylated. This is entirely consistent with the expected hydrogen bond donor properties of these cations. 

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