Multinuclear N M R spectroscopy and conductivity measurements showed that the 1 -ethyl-3-methylimidazolium cation, [emim] +, not only forms strong hydrogen bonds (using all three ring protons H2, H4 and H5) with halide ions in polar molecular solvents (e.g. ethanenitrile) and ionic liquids, but that it exists in a quasi-molecular state, [emim]X, in non-polar solvents (e.g. trichloro-and dichloromethane), showing a conventional aromatic stacking phenomenon.Over the past ten years the perception of the ability of the 1ethyl-3-methylimidazolium cation, [emim] + , 1,2 to enter into hydrogen bonds with halide ions has developed from not p ~s s i b l e , ~ through contr~versial,~ to widely a ~c e p t e d . ~. ~ However, the strongest evidence for these claims has always rested upon solid-state X-ray crystallographic determinations of the structures of both [emim]+ 4,7 and [edmim]+ (edmim = 1ethyl-2,3-dimethylimidazolium) salts.* A number of first-class solution studies have been reported, 5*6*9 yet no incontrovertible evidence has yet been presented that the [emim]' cation is capable of forming hydrogen bonds in solution. Proton NMR spectra of room-temperature [emim]C1-A1C13 ionic liquids are known to be very composition dependent, particularly in the basicIn particular, the H2 proton is very sensitive, moving significantly upfield with increasing acidity. This has been widely interpreted in terms of a stacked oligomeric model 3,5 in which anions and cations alternate, the anions being associated with the imidazolium ring both directly above and below its plane. Nevertheless, a 'H NMR study l 1 of several imidazole and imidazolium derivatives in CD,Cl, has shown that the chemical shift of the H2 proton was sensitive to the nature of the anion present, and hydrogen bonding between discrete ion pairs was postulated to explain this result. We thus decided to undertake a definitive study of the NMR characteristics of [emim]X (X = CI, Br or I) in molecular solvents, free of the aporia associated with ionic liquids. We demonstrate here, using principally the techniques of multinuclear NMR spectroscopy and conductivity measurements, that [emim] + not only forms strong hydrogen bonds (using all three ring protons H2, H4 and H5) with halide ions in polar molecular solvents (e.g. ethanenitrile, MeCN) and ionic liquids, but that it exists in a quasi-molecular state, [emim]X, in non-polar solvents (e.g. CHCl, and CH,Cl,), showing a conventional aromatic stacking phenomenon.
Experiment a1N M R Studies.-Deuterium oxide (99%) was distilled in O ~U O before use; CD3CN and CD2C12 were distilled from calcium hydride under dry dinitrogen. Samples of [emim]X (X = C1, Br