Surface characterization of imidazolium-based ionic liquids with cyano-functionalized anions at the gas–liquid interface using sum frequency generation spectroscopy

Advancement in the field of ionic liquid technology requires a comprehensive understanding of their surface properties, as a wide range of chemical reactions occur mainly at interfaces. As essential media currently used in several technological applications, their accurate molecular level description at the gas–liquid interface is of utmost importance. Due to the high degree of chemical information provided in the vibrational spectrum, vibrational spectroscopy gives the most detailed model for molecular structure. The inherently surface-sensitive technique, sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy, in combination with bulk-sensitive vibrational spectroscopic techniques such as FTIR and Raman, has been used in this report to characterize the surface of cyano-containing ionic liquids, such as [BMIM][SCN], [BMIM][DCA], [BMIM][TCM] and [EMIM][TCB] at the gas–liquid interface. By structural variation of the anion while keeping the cation constant, emphasis on the molecular arrangement of the anion at the gas–liquid interface is reported, and its subsequent role (if any) in determining the surface molecular orientation of the cation. Vibrational modes seen in the C–H stretching region revealed the presence of the cation at the gas–liquid interface. The cation orientation is independent of the type of cyano-containing anion, however, a similar arrangement at the surface as reported in previous studies was found, with the imidazolium ring lying flat at the surface, and the alkyl chains pointing towards the gas phase. SFG results show that all three anions of varying symmetry, namely, [DCA]− (C2v), [TCM]−(D3h) and [TCB]− (Td) in ionic liquids [BMIM]DCA], [BMIM][TCM] and [EMIM][TCB] are significantly tilted from the surface plane, while the linear [SCN]− in [BMIM][SCN] exhibited poor ordering, as seen in the absence of its C–N stretching mode in the SFG vibrational spectra.