title: X-Ray absorption spectroscopy investigation of 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide salts.
abstract: X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) has been used to unveil the bromide ion local coordination structure in 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide [C(n)mim]Br ionic liquids (ILs) with different alkyl chains. The XAS spectrum of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide has been found to be different from those of the other members of the series, from the butyl to the decyl derivatives, that have all identical XAS spectra. This result indicates that starting from 1-buthyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide the local molecular arrangement around the bromide anion is the same independently from the length of the alkyl chain, and that the imidazolium head groups in the liquid ILs with long alkyl chains assume locally the same orientation as in the [C(4)mim]Br crystal. With this study we show that the XAS technique is an effective direct tool for unveiling the local structural arrangements around selected atoms in ILs.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chimica, Università di Roma La Sapienza, P. le A. Moro 5, 00185 Roma, Italy. p.dangelo@caspur.it
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: D'Angelo
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zitolo
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Migliorati
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bodo
authors.forename: Giuliana
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Aquilanti
authors.forename: Jean Louis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Hazemann
authors.forename: Denis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Testemale
authors.forename: Giordano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mancini
authors.forename: Ruggero
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Caminiti