Ionic liquid crystals based on viologen dimers: tuning the mesomorphism by varying the conformational freedom of the ionic layer

We investigated the liquid crystal behaviour of newly synthesised bistriflimide salts of symmetric viologen dimers. A smectic A phase was observed for intermediate spacer lengths and for relatively long lateral alkyl chains. The systems were characterised by thermal analysis, polarised optical microscopy, X-ray scattering and solid-state NMR. An intermediate ordered smectic phase was also exhibited by the compounds (except for systems with very short lateral chains) consisting of molten layers of alkyl chains and partially ordered ionic layers. These results, relating to the mesomorphic behaviour of viologen salts, are qualitatively compared to those of the more common imidazolium salts, highlighting the importance of the conformational degrees of freedom of the anions and of the cationic core. It appears that fine tuning of the conformational degrees of freedom of the ionic layer is an important component of mesophase stabilisation

New Sulfur-Containing Polyarsenicals from the New Caledonian Sponge Echinochalina bargibanti

Arsenicin A (C3H6As4O3) was isolated from the New Caledonian poecilosclerid sponge Echinochalina bargibanti, and described as the first natural organic polyarsenic compound. Further bioguided fractionation of the extracts of this sponge led us to isolate the first sulfur-containing organic polyarsenicals ever found in Nature. These metabolites, called arsenicin B and arsenicin C, are built on a noradamantane-type framework that is characterized by an unusual As-As bonding. Extensive NMR measurements, in combination with mass spectra, enabled the assignment of the structure for arsenicin B (C3H6As4S2) as 2. The scarcity of arsenicin C and its intrinsic chemical instability only allowed the collection of partial spectral data, which prevented the full structural definition. After the extensive computational testing of several putative structures, structure 3 was inferred for arsenicin C (C3H6As4OS) by comparing the experimental and density functional theory (DFT)-calculated H-1 and C-13 NMR spectra. Finally, the absolute configurations of 2 and 3 were determined with a combined use of experimental and time-dependent (TD)-DFT calculated electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra and observed specific rotations. These findings pose great challenges for the investigation of the biosynthesis of these metabolites and the cycle of arsenic in Nature. Arsenicins B and C showed strong antimicrobial activities, especially against S. aureus, which is comparable to the reference compound gentamycin

Fully Atomistic Simulations of the Ionic Liquid Crystal [C16mim][NO3]: Orientational Order Parameters and Voids Distribution

We present a fully atomistic molecular dynamics simulation of the smectic phase of the ionic liquid crystal (ILC) 1-hexadecyl-3-methylimidazolium nitrate, [C16MIm][NO3]. We have characterized the structure of the phase by means of a set of radial distribution functions resolved along the director and in the plane of the smectic layers. The results obtained allow us to discuss the similarities in the microscopic structure of ionic liquids (ILs) and ILCs. In addition to this, we have calculated the orientational order parameters, S, of the methylene groups of the alkyl chain and compared them with the results obtained for phospholipidic membranes from 2H NMR experiments. We also discuss the orientational order parameters of the imidazolium ring. Finally, we analyze the distribution of voids in the ILC phase. We have found that voids of considerable volume to host a nonpolar gas, e.g. xenon, are localized in the hydrophobic layers and almost absent in the ionic layers

Td-dft prediction of the intermolecular charge-transfer uv-vis spectra of viologen salts in solution

The absorption spectrum of viologen salts in a medium or low polar solvent is an essential feature that influences all its \u201cchromic\u201d applications, whether we are considering thermochromic, electrochromic, photochromic or chemochromic devices. The prediction by quantum chemical methods of such absorption bands, typically observed in the visible range and due to charge transfer (CT) phenomena, is a very challenging problem due to strong solvent effects influencing both the geometry and the electronic transitions. Here we present a computational protocol based on DFT to predict with very high accuracy the absorption maxima of the CT bands of a series of viologen salts in solvents of low and medium polarity. The calculations also allow a clear dissection of the solvent effects, direct and indirect, and orbital contributions to the CT band

Ion-pairing of octyl viologen diiodide in low-polar solvents: An experimental and computational study

We have investigated the ion-pairing and solvent effect on the NMR and UV/vis spectra of 1,1\u2032-di-n-octyl-4,4\u2032-bipyridinium diiodide in various solvents. A strikingly different behavior is observed in the low polar solvent dichloromethane. A large deshielding of the meta bipyridinium core resonance occurs and charge transfer (CT) transitions are observed in the visible region due to the formation of ion-pairs. The CT bands show a marked blue-shift as the polarity of the solvent is increased. Experimental data have been compared with the results of DFT calculations of proton's chemical shifts and TD-DFT calculations of the vertical electronic transitions of model ion-pairs (using the smaller methyl viologen dication) in the gas phase and after the inclusion of the solvent reaction field by means of the PCM scheme. Different geometrical arrangements of the ion-pairs have been investigated, and the direct and indirect solvent effect has been elucidated. A good agreement is obtained which allows one to get insights concerning the CT transitions of this system and the geometry of the ion-pairs in solution of low-polar solvents. \ua9 2008 American Chemical Society

MD simulation of the mesomorphic behaviour of 1-hexadecyl-3- methylimidazolium nitrate: Assessment of the performance of a coarse-grained force field

We report on the thermal behaviour of a model system based on a coarse-grained force field (CG-FF) developed for ionic liquids here extended to the description of the ionic liquid crystal 1-hexadecyl-3-methylimidazolium nitrate. The phase diagram has been investigated as a function of the temperature in the NPT ensemble. We have identified three distinct phases, a crystal phase, the smectic A phase and the isotropic liquid phase. The various phases have been characterized by several pair distribution functions, density profiles and order parameters. A comparison is made with the experimental data available and suggestions on how to re-parameterise the CG-FF in order to achieve a better accuracy for the description of ionic mesophases are presented. On the other hand the results reported in this work demonstrate that the model potential is sufficiently accurate, at a qualitative level, to obtain useful insights into the relation between structural parameters, such as anion and cation core size, chain lengths and others, and the thermal range of stability of the ionic mesophases. \ua9 The Royal Society of Chemistry 2012

Differential solvation free energies of oxonium and ammonium ions: Insights from quantum chemical calculations

We have employed computational protocols to determine the differential solvation free energy in water of oxonium and ammonium ions. We have focused our analysis on pairs of onium ions having the same hydrocarbon content and substitutional pattern (HCSP pairs). In agreement with previous suggestions (Taft, R. W.; Wolf. J. F.; Beauchamp, J. L.; Scorrano, G.; Arnett, E. M. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1978, 100, 1240), we found that cavitation and van der Waals terms do not contribute to the differential solvation free energy. Moreover, we observe that oxonium ions are more strongly solvated than the analogous ammonium ions even though the former ones have fewer H-bond donor sites. The performance of two different continuum solvation models, PCM and SMD, is discussed. \ua9 2010 American Chemical Society

Comparison of the ionic liquid crystal phase of [C12C1im][BF4] and [C12C1im]Cl by atomistic MD simulations

We present fully atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations at 450 K of two ionic liquid crystals in the smectic phase: 1-dodecyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([C12C1im][BF4]) and 1-dodecyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([C12C1im]Cl). The two systems experimentally exhibit different ranges of thermal stability of the ionic smectic phase: The chloride salt has a more stable LC phase, between 270.3 K and 377.6 K, with a range of SmA of more than 107 K. In contrast, the tetrafluoroborate salt has a smectic phase between 299.6 K and 311.6 K, with a range of mesophase of just 12 K. The MD simulations show that the chloride system is stable in the smectic phase for the 5 ns of simulation, while the tetrafluoroborate salt melts into an isotropic ionic liquid, in qualitative agreement with the experiments. Comparison of the electrostatic and van der Waals energetic contributions enables one to rationalize the observed behavior as being due to the large size of the [BF4] anion: a larger size of the anion means a lower charge density, and therefore a weaker electrostatic interaction in the ionic layer

Role of the Electrostatic Interactions in the Stabilization of Ionic Liquid Crystals: Insights from Coarse-Grained MD Simulations of an Imidazolium Model

In order to investigate the role of the electrostatic interactions in stabilizing various phases of ionic liquids, especially smectic ionic liquid crystals, we have employed a coarse-grained model of 1-hexadecyl-3-methylimidazolium nitrate, [C16mim][NO3], to perform molecular dynamics simulations with the partial charges artificially rescaled by a factor from 0.7 to 1.2. The simulated systems have been characterized by means of orientational and translational order parameters and by distribution functions. We have found that increasing the total charge of the ions strongly stabilizes the ionic smectic phase by shifting the clearing point (melting into the isotropic liquid phase) to higher temperatures, while a smaller effect is observed on the stability of the crystal phase. Our results highlight the importance of the electrostatic interactions in promoting the formation of ionic liquid crystals through microphase segregation. Moreover, as the total charge of the model is increased, we observe a transformation from a homogeneous to a nanosegregated isotropic structure typical of ionic liquids. Therefore, a connection can be established between the degree of nanosegregation of ILs and the stability of ILC phases. All the above can be understood by the competition among electrostatic interactions between charged groups (cationic head groups and anions), van der Waals interactions between nonpolar cationic tail groups, and thermal fluctuations

DFT study of the NMR properties of xenon in covalent compounds and van der Waals complexes-implications for the use of Xe-129 as a molecular probe

The NMR properties (chemical shift and spin-spin coupling constants) of Xe-129 in covalent compounds and weakly bound complexes have been investigated by DFT methods including relativistic effects. For covalent species, a good agreement between experimental and calculated results is achieved without scalar relativistic effects, but their inclusion (with a triple-zeta, doublepolarization basis set) leads to some improvement in the quality of the correlation. The spin-orbit coupling term has a significant effect on the shielding constant, but makes a small contribution to the chemical shift. Coupling constants contain substantial contributions from the Fermi contact and paramagnetic spin-orbit terms; unlike light nuclei the spin-dipole term is also large, whereas the diamagnetic spin-orbit term is negligible. For van der Waals dimers, the dependence of the xenon chemical shift and anisotropy is calculated as a function of the distance. Small (< 1 Hz) but non-negligible throughspace coupling constants between Xe-129 and C-13 or H-1 are predicted. Much larger couplings, of the order of few Hz, are calculated between xenon and O-17 in a model silicate residue