2015, Rosas-Hernández, Alonso, Alsabeh, Pamela G., Barsch, Enrico, Junge, Hernrik, Ludwig, Ralf, Beller, Matthias

Herein, we report highly active (cyclopentadienone)iron–tricarbonyl complexes for CO2 photoreduction using visible light with an Ir complex as photosensitizer and TEOA as electron/proton donor. Turnover numbers (TON) of ca. 600 (1 h) with initial turnover frequencies (TOF) up to 22.2 min−1 were observed. Operando FTIR measurements allowed for the proposal of a plausible mechanism for catalyst activation.

2015, Knorr, Anne, Fumino, Koichi, Bonsa, Anne-Marie, Ludwig, Ralf

The subtle energy-balance between Coulomb-interaction, hydrogen bonding and dispersion forces governs the unique properties of ionic liquids. To measure weak interactions is still a challenge. This is in particular true in the condensed phase wherein a melange of different strong and directional types of interactions is present and cannot be detected separately. For the ionic liquids (2-hydroxyethyl)-trimethylammonium (cholinium) bis(trifluoro-methylsulfonyl)amide and N,N,N-trimethyl-N-propylammonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amide which differ only in the 2-hydroxyethyl and the propyl groups of the cations, we could directly observe distinct vibrational signatures of hydrogen bonding between the cation and the anion indicated by ‘jumping and pecking’ motions of cholinium. The assignment could be confirmed by isotopic substitution H/D at the hydroxyl group of cholinium. For the first time we could also find direct spectroscopic evidence for H-bonding between like-charged ions. The repulsive Coulomb interaction between the cations is overcome by cooperative hydrogen bonding between the 2-hydroxyethyl functional groups of cholinium. This H-bond network is reflected in the properties of protic ionic liquids (PILs) such as viscosities and conductivities.

2015, Paschek, Dietmar, Golub, Benjamin, Ludwig, Ralf

We report results of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations characterising the hydrogen bonding in mixtures of two different protic ionic liquids sharing the same cation: triethylammonium-methylsulfonate (TEAMS) and triethylammonium-triflate (TEATF). The triethylammonium-cation acts as a hydrogen-bond donor, being able to donate a single hydrogen-bond. Both, the methylsulfonate- and the triflate-anions can act as hydrogen-bond acceptors, which can accept multiple hydrogen bonds via their respective SO3-groups. In addition, replacing a methyl-group in the methylsulfonate by a trifluoromethyl-group in the triflate significantly weakens the strength of a hydrogen bond from an adjacent triethylammonium cation to the oxygen-site in the SO3-group of the anion. Our MD simulations show that these subtle differences in hydrogen bond strength significantly affect the formation of differently-sized hydrogen-bonded aggregates in these mixtures as a function of the mixture-composition. Moreover, the reported hydrogen-bonded cluster sizes can be predicted and explained by a simple combinatorial lattice model, based on the approximate coordination number of the ions, and using statistical weights that mostly account for the fact that each anion can only accept three hydrogen bonds.

2015, Knorr, Anne, Ludwig, Ralf

Direct spectroscopic evidence for H-bonding between like-charged ions is reported for the ionic liquid, 1-(2-hydroxyethyl)-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate. New infrared bands in the OH frequency range appear at low temperatures indicating the formation of H-bonded cation-cation clusters similar to those known for water and alcohols. Supported by DFT calculations, these vibrational bands can be assigned to attractive interaction between the hydroxyl groups of the cations. The repulsive Coulomb interaction is overcome by cooperative hydrogen bonding between ions of like charge. The transition energy from purely cation-anion interacting configurations to those including cation-cation H-bonds is determined to be 3–4 kJmol−1. The experimental findings and DFT calculations strongly support the concept of anti-electrostatic hydrogen bonds (AEHBs) as recently suggested by Weinhold and Klein. The like-charge configurations are kinetically stabilized with decreasing temperatures.

2015, Ludwig, Ralf

We could show by means of dispersion-corrected DFT calculations that the interaction energy in protic ionic liquids can be dissected into Coulomb interaction, hydrogen bonding and dispersion interaction. The H-bond energy as well as the dispersion energy can be quantified to be 50 kJ mol−1 each representing ten percent of the overall interaction energy. The dispersion interaction could be dissected into two portions. One third could be related to the dispersion interaction within an ion-pair enhancing the H-bond strength, two thirds stem from dispersion interaction between the ion-pairs. This distribution of dispersion interaction is reflected in the far infrared (FIR) spectra. The H-bond band is shifted weaker than the low frequency band where the latter indicates diffuse cation–anion interaction and H-bond bending motions. Finally, we can dissect the different types of interaction energies indicating their characteristic influence on vibrational modes in the FIR.

2015, Nisa, Riffat Un, Maria, Maria, Wasim, Fatima, Mahmood, Tariq, Ludwig, Ralf, Ayub, Khurshid

The mechanism of TiCl4 mediated formal [3 + 3] cyclization of 1,3-bis(silyl enol ethers) with 1,3-dielectrophiles is studied at the B3LYP level of density functional theory (DFT) to rationalize the experimental regioselectivity. Methyl and trifluoromethyl substituted 1,3 dielectrophiles are studied theoretically since they show different regioselectivities. Two different mechanisms involving 1,2 and 1,4 addition of 1,3-bis(silyl enol ethers) on 1,3-dielectrophiles are studied for each dienophile. The intramolecular transition metal catalyzed and non-catalyzed dynamic shift of the silyl moiety is also studied. The structure of the 1,3 dienophile and the associated Mulliken charges are the driving forces for different regioselectivities in methyl and trifluoromethyl dienophiles.