The speciation of chlorozincate(II) ionic liquids, prepared by mixing 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride, [C(8)mim]Cl, and zinc(II) chloride in various molar ratios, χ(ZnCl(2)), was investigated using Raman spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry; the Gutmann acceptor number, which is a quantitative measure of Lewis acidity, was also determined as a function of the composition. These results were combined with literature data to define the anionic speciation; in the neat liquid phase, the existence of Cl(-), [ZnCl(4)](2-), [Zn(2)Cl(6)](2-), [Zn(3)Cl(8)](2-), and [Zn(4)Cl(10)](2-) anions was confirmed. From two chlorozincate(II) ionic liquids with [C(2)mim](+) cations (χ(ZnCl(2)) = 0.33 and χ(ZnCl(2)) = 0.50), crystals have been obtained, revealing the structures of [C(2)mim](2)[ZnCl(4)] and [C(2)mim](2)[Zn(2)Cl(6)] forming three-dimensional hydrogen-bond networks. The compound [C(2)mim](2){Zn(4)Cl(10)} was crystallized from the χ(ZnCl(2)) = 0.75 composition, showing an open-framework structure, with the first example of zinc in a trigonal-bipyramidal chloride coordination. Reinvestigation of the electrospray ionization mass spectrometry of these systems demonstrated that it is an unreliable technique to study liquid-phase speciation.

Microcrystalline indium(III) selenide was prepared from a diphenyl diselenide precursor and a range of chloroindate(III) ionic liquids via a microwave-assisted ionothermal route; this is the first report on the use of either microwave irradiation or ionic liquids to prepare this material. The influence of the reaction temperature, dilution with a spectator ionic liquid and variation of the cation and the anion of the ionic liquid on the product morphology and composition were investigated. This resulted in a time-efficient and facile one-pot reaction to produce microcrystalline indium(III) selenide. The product formation in the ionic liquids has been monitored using Raman spectroscopy. The products have been characterised using PXRD, SEM and EDX. Advantages of this new route, such as the ease of solubilisation of all reactants into one phase at high concentration, the negligible vapour pressure irrespective of the reaction temperature, very fast reaction times, ease of potential scale-up and reproducibility are discussed.

Zinc selenide nanospheres were prepared from a diphenyl diselenide precursor and halozincate(ii) ionic liquids via a microwave-assisted ionothermal route.

Ternary compounds of copper indium selenide nano-and microsized materials were prepared through colloidal synthesis using an indium(III) selenide precursor and copper(I) chloride via a microwave-assisted ionothermal route. The indium-(III) selenide precursor used in the reaction was formed in situ from a diphenyl diselenide precursor and chloroindate(III) ionic liquids (ILs), also via a microwave-assisted ionothermal route. The crystal structures of three intermediates, namely, CuCl 2 (OMe) 2 -(H 2 O)){Cu(PhSeO 2 ) 2 } n , [CuCl(Se 2 Ph 2 ) 2 ] n , and [C 8 mim] 3 -{Cu I Cl 2 Cu II OCl 8 } n , were determined after formation through a ionothermal procedure utilizing metal-containing imidazolium ILs and a selenium precursor with conventional heating. Herein, we compare the use of microwave irradiation over conventional heating with different ILs on the stoichiometry of the resulting products. The influence of the reaction temperature, reaction time, order of addition of reagents, and variation of ILs, which were characterized using PXRD, SEM, and EDX, on the final products was investigated.

It has been suggested that listening to music during reading may be distracting, but the empirical results have remained inconclusive. One limitation of previous studies is that they have often had limited control over the number of lyrics present in the songs. We report 4 experiments that investigated whether song lyrics make music distracting. Participants read short paragraphs in a self-paced reading paradigm in three sound conditions: 1) silence; 2) lyrical songs at ~150 words per minute; and 3) the instrumental version of the same songs.The results showed that listening to instrumental music either did not affect reading times or led to slightly faster reading times compared to silence. However, lyrical music led to an increase in reading times in three experiments. We conclude that instrumental music does not lead to distraction during reading. Song lyrics appear to be distracting, even if the observed distraction is quite mild.