Ionic Liquid Dynamics Measured with 2D IR and IR Pump-Probe Experiments on a Linear Anion and the Influence of Potassium Cations.

The room-temperature ionic liquid EmimNTf2 (1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide) was studied with two-dimensional infrared (2D IR) spectroscopy and polarization selective pump-probe (PSPP) experiments using low-concentration selenocyanate (SeCN(-)) as the vibrational probe. SeCN(-) was added as EmimSeCN, which keeps the cation the same. KSeCN was also used, so K(+) was added. Two 2D IR polarization configurations were employed: ⟨XXXX⟩ (all pulses have the same polarization) and ⟨XXYY⟩ (the first two pulse polarizations are perpendicular to that of the third pulse and the echo). The spectral diffusion differs for the two configurations, demonstrating that reorientation-induced spectral diffusion, in addition to structural spectral diffusion (SSD), plays a role in the observed dynamics. The SSD was extracted from the 2D IR time-dependent data. The samples with EmimSeCN have dynamics on several fast time scales; however, when KSeCN is used, both the PPSP anisotropy decay and the 2D IR decays have low amplitude offsets (nondecaying values at long times). The size of the offsets increased with increased K(+) concentration. These results are explained in terms of a two-ensemble model. A small fraction of the SeCN(-) is located in the regions modified by the presence of K(+), causing a substantial slowing of the SeCN(-) orientational relaxation and spectral diffusion. Having a small ensemble of SeCN(-) that undergoes very slow dynamics is sufficient to explain the offsets. For the major ensemble, the dynamics with and without K(+) are the same.