Imidazolium-based ionic liquids are widely used in conjunction with molecular
liquids for various applications. Solvation, miscibility and similar properties
are of fundamental importance for successful implementation of theoretical
schemes. This work reports competitive solvation of the 1,3-dimethylimidazolium
cation by water and methanol. Employing molecular dynamics simulations powered
by semiempirical Hamiltonian (electronic structure level of description), the
local structure nearly imidazolium cation is described in terms of radial
distribution functions. Although water and methanol are chemically similar,
water appears systematically more successful in solvating the
1,3-dimethylimidazolium cation. This result fosters construction of future
applications of the ternary ion-molecular systems
