Amino acid ionic liquid trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium methioninate [P(66614)][Met] and prolinate [P(66614)][Pro] absorb CO(2) in nearly 1:1 stoichiometry, surpassing by up to a factor of 2 the CO(2) capture efficiency of previously reported ionic liquid and aqueous amine absorbants for CO(2). Room temperature isotherms are obtained by barometric measurements in an accurately calibrated stirred cell, and the product identity is confirmed using in situ IR. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations support the 1:1 reaction stoichiometry and predict reaction enthalpies in good agreement with calorimetric measurements and isotherms.

Amine-functionalized anion-tethered ionic liquids (ILs), trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium glycinate [P66614][Gly], alanate [P66614][Ala], sarcosinate [P66614][Sar], valinate [P66614][Val], leucinate [P66614][Leu], and isoleucinate [P66614][Ile], were synthesized and investigated as potential absorbents for CO2 capture from postcombustion flue gas. Their physical properties, including density, viscosity, glass transition temperature, and thermal decomposition temperature, were determined. The influence of changing the anion and, more specifically, the length of the alkyl chain is discussed. Furthermore, the CO2 absorption isotherms of [P66614][Gly], [P66614][Ile], [P66614][Sar], and [P66614][Ala] were measured using a volumetric method, and the results were modeled with two different Langmuir-type absorption models. All four ILs reached greater than 0.5 mol of CO2 per mole of IL at CO2 pressures of less than 1 bar. This indicates the predominance of the 1:1 mechanism, where the CO2 reacts with one IL to form a carbamic acid, over further reaction with another IL to make a carbamate (the 1:2 mechanism). The chemical absorption of CO2 dramatically increased the viscosity of the IL, but this can be mitigated to some extent by decreasing the number of hydrogens on the anion available for hydrogen-bonding.

Amine-functionalized anion-tethered ionic liquids (ILs) trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium asparaginate [P(66614)][Asn], glutaminate [P(66614)][Gln], lysinate [P(66614)][Lys], methioninate [P(66614)][Met], prolinate [P(66614)][Pro], taurinate [P(66614)][Tau], and threoninate [P(66614)][Thr] were synthesized and investigated as potential absorbents for CO(2) capture from postcombustion flue gas. Their physical properties, including density, viscosity, glass transition temperature, and thermal decomposition temperature were determined. Furthermore, the CO(2) absorption isotherms of [P(66614)][Lys], [P(66614)][Tau], [P(66614)][Pro], and [P(66614)][Met] were measured using a volumetric method, and the results were modeled with two different Langmuir-type absorption models. The most important result of this study is that the viscosity of [P(66614)][Pro] only increased by a factor of 2 when fully complexed with 1 bar of CO(2) at room temperature. This is in stark contrast to the other chemically reacted ILs investigated here and all other amino acid-based ILs reported in the literature, which dramatically increase in viscosity, typically by 2 orders of magnitude, when complexed with CO(2). The unique behavior of [P(66614)][Pro] is likely due to its ring structure, which limits the number and availability of hydrogen atoms that can participate in a hydrogen bonding network. We found that water can be used to further reduce the viscosity of the CO(2)-complexed IL, while only slightly decreasing the CO(2) capacity. Finally, from temperature-dependent isotherms, we estimate a heat of absorption of -63 kJ/mol of CO(2) for the 1:1 reaction of CO(2) with [P(66614)][Pro], when we use the two-reaction model.

There has been long-standing uncertainty about the number of water molecules in the primary coordination environment of the OH- and F- ions in aqueous chemistry. We report the vibrational spectra of the OH-.(H2O)n and F-.(H2O)n clusters and interpret the pattern of OH stretching fundamentals with ab initio calculations. The spectra of the cold complexes are obtained by first attaching weakly bound argon atoms to the clusters and then monitoring the photoinduced evaporation of these atoms when an infrared laser is tuned to a vibrational resonance. The small clusters (n