Heterogeneous solute dynamics in room temperature ionic liquids

The excitation wavelength dependence of the emission kinetics of several solutes is used to demonstrate the presence of dynamic heterogeneity in two representative room temperature ionic liquids, dimethyl-isopropyl-propyl- ammonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide [N-ip311(+)][Tf2N-] and N-propyl-N-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide [Pr-31(+)][Tf2N-]. The solute kinetics examined here include rotation and solvation of coumarin 153, isomerization of two malononitriles, and intramolecular charge transfer in crystal violet lactone. The rates of most of these processes vary significantly with excitation wavelength, especially for excitation on the red edges of the solute absorption bands, indicating that energetically selected subpopulations relax at distinct rates. The results presented here suggest more generally that dynamical processes taking place on the subnanosecond time scale in typical ionic liquids near room temperature are likely to be heterogeneous in character.