An investigation of the reaction between 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate and superoxide ion

Superoxide ion (O₂^-) generation in ionic liquids (ILs) has been investigated recently using various types of ILs. Imidazolium based ILs are the most frequently studied ILs. In this work, O₂ ^- was generated and analyzed electrochemically using cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry techniques from O₂ dissolved in 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate [BMIm][TfO]. Furthermore, O₂^- was generated chemically by potassium superoxide addition into the same IL. UV/Vis spectrophotometry was utilized for testing the long term stability of the generated O₂^- and GC/MS was used to investigate the possible reaction between the generated O ₂^- and [BMIm][TfO]. The results showed that O ₂^- was unstable in this IL. The GC/MS results confirmed that O₂^- has reacted with [BMIm][TfO] producing 1-butyl-3-methyl-2-imidazolone in a high purity and excellent yield. This product and its family are used widely in various applications and have a very important role in pharmacology and chemotherapy.