The York Research Database

We report the first UV laser action spectra of mass-selected aggregates composed of the cationic and anionic constituents of two ionic liquids, i.e. [BMIM⁺]<inf>n</inf>[Tf<inf>2</inf>N^-]<inf>m</inf> and [EMIM⁺]<inf>n</inf>[Tf<inf>2</inf>N^-]<inf>m</inf> where n ≠ m and n, m = 1,2. Each aggregate cluster displays a maximum absorption at 220 nm, the high energy limit scanned. However, the anionic and cationic aggregate photofragmentation cross-sections are notably different, indicating distinctive decay mechanisms. We compare our spectra to other gas-phase spectroscopic methods and discuss the general utility of our technique as a facile route to obtaining gas-phase electronic spectra of isolated ionic liquids.