Chemical potentials of water and organic solutes in imidazolium ionic liquids: a simulation study

Abstract

The excess chemical potentials of a series of molecules dissolved in the ionic liquid dimethyl imidazolium chloride have been determined by a series of transformations. The molecules are water, methanol, dimethyl ether, acetone and propane. Water and methanol have large negative values of the excess chemical potential (-29kJmol⁻¹ and — 14kJ mol⁻¹ respectively); the polar molecules dimethyl ether and acetone have positive values of about 7kJmol⁻¹ while the value for propane is +26 kJ mol⁻¹. Hydrogen bonding to the anion plays an important part in the stabilization of water and methanol.