The effect of solute-solvent and solvent-solvent interactions on the preferential solvation of solvatochromic indicators in binary mixtures of ionic liquids with molecular solvents has been investigated. The binary mixtures of the pyridinium-based ionic liquids 1-butylpyridinium tetrafluoroborate ([BP][BF4]), 1-butyl-3-methylpyridinium tetrafluoroborate ([3-MBP][BF4]), and 1-butyl-4-methylpyridinium tetrafluoroborate ([4-MBP][BF4]) with molecular solvents like water, methanol, and dichloromethane have been selected for this investigation. The effect of addition of ionic liquids to molecular solvents on the polarity parameters E(T)(N), Kamlet-Taft parameters, hydrogen bond donor ability (HBD) (α), hydrogen bond acceptor ability (HBA) (β), and polarizability (π*) was obtained. The polarity parameters of the mixture display nonideality on addition of ionic liquids to water and dichloromethane. On the other hand, strong synergetic effects were seen in the ionic liquid-methanol binary mixtures. The preferential solvation models have been employed to analyze the collected data in order to achieve information on solute-solvent interactions in these binary mixtures.

Thermosolvatochromism has been studied in three series of ionic liquids, pyridinium-based 1-butylpyridinium, 1-hexylpyridinium, and 1-octylpyridinium with bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide [NTf(2)] and tetrafluoroborate [BF(4)] anions, pyrrolidinium-based ionic liquids 1-methyl-1-butylpyrrolidium, 1-methyl-1-hexylpyrrolidium, 1-methyl-1-octylpyrrolidium with bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide anion and phosphonium-based ionic liquids tetrabutylphosphonium with alanate and valinate anions. The effect of increase in alkyl chain length and temperature on normalized polarity E(T)(N), Kamlet-Taft parameters, hydrogen bond donor ability (alpha), hydrogen bond acceptor ability (beta), and polarizability (pi*) was investigated in the temperature range of 298-353 K. Interestingly, the polarity decreases with temperature in the case of pyridinium- and pyrrolidinium-based ionic liquids, and it increases with temperature in the case of phosphonium-based ionic liquids.

Polarity studies in two classes of imidazolium-based protic ionic liquids (PILs) possessing [HSO(4)](-), [HCOO](-), [CH(3)COO](-) and [CH(3)CH(2)COO](-) anions were carried out using a solvatochromic method from 298.15 to 353.15 K. For 1-methylimidazolium class of PILs, E(T)(30) was found to be independent over the entire range of temperature, while E(T)(30) was noted to decrease with a rise in temperature in the case of 1-butylimidazolium class of PILs containing [CH(3)COO](-) and [CH(3)CH(2)COO](-) anions. The E(T)(30) value decreases in both the classes upon varying the anions ([HSO(4)](-), [HCOO](-), [CH(3)COO](-) and [CH(3)CH(2)COO](-)). The E(T)(30) value is controlled by hydrogen bond acceptor basicity, β, and dipolarity/polarizability, π*. The E(T)(30) value for PILs varies inversely to the strength of the coulombic interaction between ions in PILs. Strong interactions between ions lead to lower E(T)(30) values. Unlike the poor thermal effect on E(T)(30), the Kamlet-Taft parameters i.e. α, β and π* have pronounced thermal effect in the imidazolium-based PILs. Variation in the Kamlet-Taft parameters is controlled by the stabilization of ions and the degree of proton transfer from Brønsted acid to Brønsted base.

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The present work aims at understanding the role of viscosity or solvent friction in ionic liquids for an intramolecular Diels-Alder (IMDA) reaction of (E)-1-phenyl-4-[2-(3-methyl-2-butenyloxy)benzylidene]-5-pyrazolone (1). The results have been analyzed on the basis of the current theoretical models, and their failure to account for the observed trends is discussed in terms of "effective" viscosity or microviscosity. The rates of the reaction decrease with the increasing viscosity of the ionic liquids. As evident from the anionic effect, the solute-solvent specific interactions play a role in governing the kinetics of the reaction. The lower viscosities of the bistrifluoromethanesulfonimide [NTf2](-) based ionic liquids as compared to those based on tetrafluoroborate [BF4](-) anion fail to result in a corresponding acceleration in the rates of the reaction. These contradictory results indicate that solvent microviscosity, rather than the bulk macroscopic viscosity, should be the criteria for selecting the ionic liquids as reaction media.