The
physicochemical properties of carboxylic acid-based deep eutectic
solvents (DESs) were measured by solvatochromic probes: Nile red, N,N-diethyl-4-nitroaniline, and 4-nitroaniline.
UV–vis absorbance of these probes was computed with temperature
in the range of 298.15 to 318.15 K. By increasing temperature, the
normalized polarity of DESs stayed linear except for [Ch]Cl:butyric
acid (1:3) and [Ch]Cl:caprylic acid (1:2), which had a modest shift
in the maximum wavelength between T = (308.15 to
318.15) K. Changes in the normalized polarity parameter of DESs demonstrated
an interesting trend, and it confirms that alkyl chain length of the
hydrogen bond donor (HBD) affects the solvation microsphere of the
solute–solvent interaction. Also, dipolarity/polarizability
(π*) and hydrogen bond acidity (α) decrease with increasing
alkyl chain length confirming the significant contribution of HBDs
to Kamlet–Taft parameters. Interestingly, the π* and
α parameters of DESs did not change significantly and seem to
be independent of temperature. In addition, density
functional theory was used to extend our understanding on how alkyl
chain length of HBD affects charge transfer in the DESs. In summary,
both solvatochromic molecular probes and density functional theory
are effective methods for studying polarity parameters and charge
transfer, respectively, for DESs with varying alkyl chain length of
the hydrogen bond donor.
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