NMR studies of carbohydrate solvation in the room temperature ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium acetate

We have studied glucose, cellobiose and cellulose dissolution in the ionic liquid (IL) 1-Ethyl-3-Methyl-Imidazolium Acetate. These have been investigated using NMR and rheology. Though the samples have vastly different viscosities, depending on solute used, the microscopic properties are only dependent on the number of solute OH groups per IL molecule. The figure shows the self-diffusion coefficient of the cation as a function of relative number of OH groups, this being proportional to the number of OH groups per IL molecule.