Dynamic fluorescence anisotropy and Stokes shift measurements of [f choline chloride + (1 - f) urea)] deep eutectic solvents at f = 0.33 and 0.40 have been carried out using a dipolar solute, coumarin 153 (C153), in the temperature range 298 ≤ T ≤ 333 K. Subsequently, measured time-dependent solvent response is utilized to investigate the dynamic solvent control on the measured rates of photoexcited intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) reactions of two molecules, 4-(1-azetidinyl)benzonitrile (P4C) and 4-(1-pyrrolidinyl)benzonitrile (P5C), occurring in these media. Measured average reaction time scales (⟨τ(rxn)⟩) exhibit the following dependence on average solvation times scales (⟨τ(s)⟩): ⟨τ(rxn)⟩ ∝ ⟨τ(s)⟩(α) with α = 0.5 and 0.35 for P4C and P5C, respectively. Such a strong dynamic solvent control of ⟨τ(rxn)⟩, particularly for P4C, is different from earlier observations with these ICT molecules in conventional molecular solvents. Excitation wavelength-dependent fluorescence emissions of C153 and trans-2-[4-(dimethylamino)styryl]-benzothiazole (DMASBT), which differ widely in average fluorescence lifetimes (⟨τ(life)⟩), suggest the presence of substantial spatial heterogeneity in these systems. Dynamic heterogeneity is reflected via the following fractional viscosity (η) dependences of ⟨τ(s)⟩ and ⟨τ(r)⟩ (⟨τ(r)⟩ being solute's average rotation time): ⟨τx⟩ ∝ (η/T)(p) with 0.7 ≤ p ≤ 0.9. Different correlations between ⟨τ(s)⟩ and ⟨τ(r)⟩ emerge at different temperature regimes, indicating variable frictional coupling at low and high temperatures. Estimated dynamic Stokes shifts in these media vary between ∼1200 and ∼1600 cm(-1), more than 50% of which possess a time scale much faster than the temporal resolution (∼75 ps) employed in these measurements. Estimated activation energy for η is closer to that for ⟨τ(r)⟩ than that for ⟨τ(s)⟩, suggesting ⟨τ(s)⟩ being more decoupled from η than ⟨τ(r)⟩.

Temperature dependent relaxation dynamics, particle motion characteristics, and heterogeneity aspects of deep eutectic solvents (DESs) made of acetamide (CH3CONH2) and urea (NH2CONH2) have been investigated by employing time-resolved fluorescence measurements and all-atom molecular dynamics simulations. Three different compositions (f) for the mixture [fCH3CONH2 + (1 - f)NH2CONH2] have been studied in a temperature range of 328-353 K which is ∼120-145 K above the measured glass transition temperatures (∼207 K) of these DESs but much lower than the individual melting temperature of either of the constituents. Steady state fluorescence emission measurements using probe solutes with sharply different lifetimes do not indicate any dependence on excitation wavelength in these metastable molten systems. Time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy measurements reveal near-hydrodynamic coupling between medium viscosity and rotation of a dissolved dipolar solute. Stokes shift dynamics have been found to be too fast to be detected by the time-resolution (∼70 ps) employed, suggesting extremely rapid medium polarization relaxation. All-atom simulations reveal Gaussian distribution for particle displacements and van Hove correlations, and significant overlap between non-Gaussian (α2) and new non-Gaussian (γ) heterogeneity parameters. In addition, no stretched exponential relaxations have been detected in the simulated wavenumber dependent acetamide dynamic structure factors. All these results are in sharp contrast to earlier observations for ionic deep eutectics with acetamide [Guchhait et al., J. Chem. Phys. 140, 104514 (2014)] and suggest a fundamental difference in interaction and dynamics between ionic and non-ionic deep eutectic solvent systems.

Dielectric relaxation (DR) measurements in the frequency range 0.2 ≤ ν/GHz ≤ 50 have been carried out for neat molten acetamide and six different (acetamide + electrolyte) deep eutectic solvents (DESs) for investigating ion effects on DR dynamics in these ionic DESs. Electrolytes used are lithium salts of bromide (LiBr), nitrate (LiNO3), and perchlorate (LiClO4); sodium salts of perchlorate (NaClO4) and thiocyante (NaSCN); and potassium thiocyanate (KSCN). With these electrolytes acetamide forms DESs approximately at an 80:20 mol ratio. Simultaneous fits to the measured permittivity (ε′) and loss (ε″) spectra of these DESs at ∼293 K require a sum of four Debye (4-D) processes with relaxation times spread over picosecond to nanosecond regime. In contrast, DR spectra for neat molten acetamide (∼354 K) depict 2-D relaxation with time constants ∼50 ps and ∼5 ps. For both the neat and ionic systems, the undetected dispersion, ε∞ – n(D)2, remains to be ∼3–4. Upon comparison, measured DR dynamics reveal pronounced anion and cation effects. Estimated static dielectric constants (ε0) from fits for these DESs cover the range 12 < ε0 < 30 and are remarkably lower than that (ε0 ∼ 64) measured for molten acetamide at ∼354 K. Hydrodynamic effective rotation volumes (Veff) estimated from the slowest DR relaxation time constants vary with ion identity and are much smaller than the molecular volume of acetamide. This decrease of ε0 and Veff is attributed respectively to the pinning of acetamide molecules by ions and orientation jumps and undetected portion to the limited frequency coverage employed in these measurements

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In this study, we have investigated the ion concentration dependent collective dynamics in two series of deep eutectic solvent (DES) systems by femtosecond Raman-induced Kerr effect spectroscopy, as well as some physical properties, e.g., shear viscosity (η), density (ρ), and surface tension (γ). The DES systems studied here are [0.75CH3CONH2 + 0.25{f KSCN + (1 - f )NaSCN}] and [0.78CH3CONH2 + 0.22{f LiBr + (1 - f )LiNO3}] with f = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1.0. γ of these DES systems shows near insensitivity to f, while ρ shows a moderate dependence on f. Interestingly, η exhibits a strong dependence on f. In the low-frequency Kerr spectra, obtained via the Fourier transform of the collected Kerr transients, a characteristic band at ∼70 cm(-1) is clear in [0.78CH3CONH2 + 0.22{f LiBr + (1 - f )LiNO3}] DES especially at the larger f. The band is attributed to the intermolecular hydrogen bond of acetamide. Because of less depolarized Raman activities of intermolecular/interionic vibrational motions, which are mostly translational (collision-induced or interaction-induced) motions, of spherical ions, the intermolecular hydrogen-bonding band is clearly observed. In contrast, the intermolecular hydrogen-bonding band is buried in the other intermolecular/interionic vibrational motions, which includes translational and reorientational (librational) motions and their cross-terms, in [0.75CH3CONH2 + 0.25{f KSCN + (1 - f )NaSCN}] system. The first moment (M1) of the intermolecular/interionic vibrational band in these DES systems is much higher than that in typical neutral molecular liquids and shows a weak but contrasting dependence on the bulk parameter √γ/ρ. The time constants for picosecond overdamped Kerr transients in both the DES systems, which are obtained on the basis of the analysis fitted by a triexponential function, are rather insensitive to f for both the DES systems, but all the three time constants (fast: ∼1-3 ps; intermediate: ∼7-20 ps; and slow: ∼100 ps) are different between the [0.78CH3CONH2 + 0.22{f LiBr + (1 - f )LiNO3}] and [0.75CH3CONH2 + 0.25{f KSCN + (1 - f )NaSCN}] systems. These results indicate that the intermolecular/interionic interactions in DES systems is strongly influenced by the ionic species present in these DES systems.