title: Specific solvation of benzyl methacrylate in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide ionic liquid.
abstract: It has been established that poly(benzyl methacrylate) in a room-temperature ionic liquid, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide ([C2mIm(+)][TFSA(-)]), exhibits lower critical solution temperature (LCST)-type phase separation. In this work we investigated the solvation structure of benzyl methacrylate monomer in the ionic liquid by using high-energy X-ray diffraction with the aid of a molecular dynamics simulation. It was found that the C2mIm cation orderly distributes above and below a benzyl group within benzil methacrylate (BnMA), while the TFSA anion distributes around the equatorial position of the benzyl group where no cation distribution is found, with a weak interaction between TFSA and BnMA. The relationship between specific solvation and the LCST phase separation mechanism was considered at the molecular level.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Liberal Studies, Kumamoto National College of Technology, Koshi, Kumamoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Masaru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matsugami
authors.forename: Kenta
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ueki
authors.forename: Yuzo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kitazawa
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Umebayashi
authors.forename: Masayoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Mitsuhiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shibayama