Charge effect on the diffusion coefficient and the bimolecular reaction rate of diiodide anion radical in room temperature ionic liquids.

The diffusion coefficients of diiodide anion radical, I(2)(-), in room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) were determined by the transient grating (TG) method using the photochemical reaction of iodide. The diffusion coefficients we obtained were larger in RTILs than the theoretical predictions by the Stokes-Einstein relation, whereas both values are similar in conventional solvents. By comparison with the diffusion coefficients of neutral molecules, it was suggested that the Coulomb interaction between I(2)(-) and constituent ions of RTILs strongly affects the diffusion coefficients. The bimolecular reaction rates between I(2)(-) were calculated by the Debye-Smoluchowski equation using the experimentally determined diffusion coefficients. These calculated reaction rate were much smaller than the experimentally determined rates (Takahashi, K.; et al. J. Phys. Chem. B 2007, 111, 4807), indicating the charge screening effect of RTILs.