The
addition of highly polar and aprotic cosolvents to ionic liquids
has proven to considerably decrease the viscosity of the solution
and improve mass transfer in many chemical reactions. In this work,
the interactions between a representative pyridinium-based ionic liquid,
N
-butylpyridinium dicyanamide ([Bpy][DCA]), and a cosolvent,
dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), were studied in detail by the combined use
of attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy,
hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance (
1
H NMR), and density
functional theory calculations. Several species in the [Bpy][DCA]–DMSO
mixtures have been identified, that is, ion clusters can translate
into ion pairs during the dilution process. DMSO formed hydrogen bonds
(H bonds) simultaneously with [Bpy]
+
cations and [DCA]
−
anions but stronger hydrogen-bonding interactions
with the [Bpy]
+
cations than the [DCA]
−
anions, and the intrinsic hydrogen-bond networks of IL were difficult
to interrupt at low DMSO concentrations. Interestingly, hydrogen-bonding
interactions reach the strongest when the molar fraction of DMSO is
0.4–0.5. Hydrogen-bonding interactions are prominent in the
chemical shifts of hydrogen atoms in [Bpy]
+
cations, and
anisotropy is the main reason for the upfield shifts of DMSO in the
presence of [Bpy][DCA]. The theoretical calculations offer in-depth
studies of the structural evolution and NMR calculation.