No abstract

Lignin is a component of lignocellulosic biomass and a promising matrix for recovering important renewable aromatic compounds. We present a new approach of electro-oxidative cleavage of lignin, dissolved in a special protic ionic liquid, using an anode with particular electro-catalytic activity. As appropriate ionic liquid triethylammonium methanesulfonate was identified, synthesised, explored for dissolution of alkali-lignin and used for electrolysis of 5 wt.% lignin solutions. As appropriate anode material, oxidation-stable ruthenium-vanadium-titanium mixed oxide electrodes were prepared and explored for their electro-catalytic activity. The electrolysis was performed at several potentials in the range from 1.0 V to 1.5 V (vs. an Ag pseudo reference electrode). A wide range of aromatic fragments was identified as cleavage products by means of GC-MS and HPLC measurements.

Quasielastic neutron scattering (QENS) has been used to study the cation dynamics in the pyridinium based ionic liquid (IL) 1-N-butylpyridinium bis((trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl)imide (BuPy-Tf(2)N). This IL allows for a detailed investigation of the dynamics of the cations only, due to the huge incoherent scattering cross section of the cation (σ(inc)(cation) >> σ(inc)(anion)). The measured spectra can be decomposed into two Lorentzian lines, indicative of two distinct dynamic processes. The slower of these two processes is diffusive in nature, whereas the faster one can be attributed to localized motions. The temperature dependence of the diffusion coefficient of the slow process follows an Arrhenius law, with an activation energy of E(A) = 14.8 ± 0.3 kJ/mol. Furthermore, we present here results from experiments with polarized neutrons. These experiments clearly show that the slower of the two observed processes is coherent, while the faster one is incoherent in nature.

No abstract

Die Balance zwischen Coulomb‐Kräften, Wasserstoffbrücken und Dispersionswechselwirkungen ist entscheidend für die besonderen Eigenschaften von geschmolzenen Salzen und ionischen Flüssigkeiten. Im fernen Infrarot bei 140–180 cm−1 beobachtete Schwingungsbanden konnten nun eindeutig H‐Brücken zugeordnet werden, die lokal und gerichtet, aber unempfindlich für das Molekulargewicht der Ionen sind.