Electronic absorption spectra and Raman spectra of N,N-dimethyl-p-nitroaniline (DMPNA) have been measured in various fluids from the gaseous-like conditions in supercritical fluids (SCFs) to highly polar room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs). We found that the S0-S1 absorption band center of DMPNA in RTILs is mostly determined by the molar concentrations of ions. On the other hand, the bandwidth of the absorption spectrum does not follow the expectation from a simple dielectric continuum model. Especially in SCFs, the bandwidth of the absorption spectrum decreases with increasing solvent density, suggesting that the intramolecular reorganization energy is a decreasing function of the solvent density. The Raman shift of the NO2 stretching mode has been proven to be a good indicator of the solvent polarity; i.e., the vibrational frequency of the NO2 stretching mode changes from 1340 cm-1 in mostly nonpolar solvent such as ethane to 1300 cm-1 in water. The linear relationship between the absorption band center and the vibrational frequency of the NO2 mode, which was observed for conventional liquids in a previous paper (Fujisawa, T.; Terazima, M.; Kimura, Y. J. Chem. Phys. 2006, 124, 184503), holds almost well for all fluids including SCFs and RTILs. On the other hand, the vibrational bandwidth does not show a simple relationship with the absorption band center. The vibrational bandwidths in RTILs are generally larger in comparison with those in conventional liquids with similar polarity scales. Among the RTILs we investigated, the vibrational bandwidth loosely correlates with the molecular size of the anion. A similar dependence on the anion size is also observed for the bandwidth of the absorption spectrum. We have also investigated the excitation wavelength dependence of the Raman shift of the NO2 stretching mode in RTILs. The extent of the dependence on the excitation wavelength in all fluids is well correlated with the vibrational bandwidth.

Raman spectra of the C[triple bond]N stretching vibration of p-aminobenzonitrile (ABN) have been investigated in water, methanol, and cyclohexane under sub- and supercritical conditions, and in acetonitrile under subcritical condition. In all solvent fluids covering the supercritical region, the vibrational frequency of the C[triple bond]N stretching mode decreased with increasing solvent density from the gaseous region to the medium density region rho(r) approximately = 2, where rho(r) is the reduced density by the critical density of the solvent. However, from the medium density region to the higher density region, the vibrational frequency turned to increase with the solvent density. The temperature-induced low frequency shift of the C[triple bond]N stretching Raman band was also ascertained by the measurement of the temperature dependence of Raman spectrum of ABN vapor above 543 K. The electronic absorption spectra in the UV region of ABN were also measured under the same experimental conditions. The absorption peak energies decreased with an increase of the solvent density, except in water above rho(r) = 2.8. The vibrational frequency shift in cyclohexane was explained by a sum of contributions of the repulsive interaction, the mean field attractive interaction, and the pure temperature effect probably due to the hot-band contribution. The residual frequency shift after the subtraction of the repulsive and temperature effects in water and methanol showed the low frequency shift with increasing solvent density from rho(r) congruent with 0 to 2.8. However, above rho(r) congruent with 2.8 in water, the residual shift showed a high frequency shift with increasing solvent density. The electronic state calculations based on the PCM model using the density functional theory (DFT) indicated that the solvent polarity change caused the low frequency shift of the C[triple bond]N stretching mode, which was also correlated with the shift of the electronic absorption spectrum. The results of the DFT calculations on the cluster of ABN with water molecules and the molecular dynamics simulations indicated that the high frequency shift of the C[triple bond]N stretching mode in water above rho(r) congruent with 2.8 could be due to the hydrogen bonding between water and ABN.

To find the laws governing the extraction of cations from aqueous solutions into hydrophobic ionic liquids (ILs), we investigated the partition of 1-ethylpyridinium monocation and paraquat (1,1'-dimethyl-4,4'-bipyridinium) dication in various IL/water biphasic systems. Ten different ILs of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium-based or bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide-based salts were used. The distribution ratio of the target cations (T(n+)) was dependent on the initial concentration in the aqueous phase and also very sensitive to the kind of IL. The behavior was quantitatively explained on the basis of a model in which the extraction goes through both the ion exchange and ion pair transfer processes, while keeping the product of the aqueous concentrations of the IL constituent ions a constant value (solubility product, Ksp). The distribution ratio of T(n+) is expressed as a function of the difference between the initial and equilibrium concentrations of T(n+) in the aqueous phase (Δ[T(n+)]W), the aqueous solubility of IL (Ksp(1/2)), and the cation valence n. The distribution ratio is a nearly constant value (D0) when Δ[T(n+)]W ≪ Ksp(1/2)/n and decreases inversely proportional to the nth power of Δ[T(n+)]W when Δ[T(n+)]W ≫ Ksp(1/2)/n. The log D0 versus log Ksp(1/2) plot gives a linear relationship with a slope of +n for the ILs with the same anion but different cations and that with a slope of nearly -n for the ILs with the same cation but different anions. This means that the extractability dependence on the kinds of IL constituent ions is greater for the divalent cation than for the monovalent one.

An ionic liquid (IL)-based microextraction method was developed for the preconcentration of paraquat traces in water samples prior to HPLC determination. On the basis of the relationship between the aqueous solubility and the extractability of known ILs, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(nonafluorobutanesulfonyl)amide ([EMIm][NNf2]) was selected as the extractant for paraquat. The distribution ratio of paraquat dication in the [EMIm][NNf2]/water biphasic system was theoretically estimated to be nearly 10 8 at its maximum level, indicating that [EMIm][NNf2] was suitable for the ultra-high preconcentration (a maximum of 10 6-fold concentration) of paraquat with a quantitative recovery (more than 99%). The extraction procedure could be performed easily and quickly following the in situ solvent formation microextraction technique, and the paraquat traces in the IL phase could be determined by hydrophilic interaction chromatography with good detection limits and linearity ranges (0.16 and 1-50 ng mL-1 for paraquat, respectively). The combined method was successfully applied to four real environmental water samples spiked with paraquat and its analog, diquat at 5.0 ng mL-1 .