Understanding the Thermophysical and Solvent Properties of Lipid-Inspired Ionic Liquids

1133101 WestIntroduction：这类新的离子液体（IL）有可能创造一种新的快速分离生物分子的方法，如蛋白质，比色谱法和其他成熟的方法更快。 这也是一个重大的进步，因为新的离子液体应该提供一个平台，研究酶催化反应的离子液体，并应作为模型系统的细胞膜的热力学和运输过程。这些新离子液体的开发可能会导致更环保和经济的过程。智力优势：离子液体（IL）是有机盐，在100°C以下为液体。它们是一类独特的化合物，基本上不挥发，具有高度可调的特性。正如人们可能预期的，离子液体通常表现出与极性分子溶剂相同的溶剂特性，容易溶解中等极性和极性溶质（类似溶解），但通常是非极性化合物的不良溶剂。这限制了离子液体用于涉及非极性化合物的化学反应和分离过程的适用性，所述非极性化合物包括生物来源的化合物，例如脂肪酸和胆固醇。我们已经开发了一类新的离子液体，含有长的烷基链，纳入赋予非极性的溶剂性质，保持室温液体。通常，具有长烷基链的离子液体由于长链产生的增强的相互作用而在室温下保持固体;然而，我们最近的工作已经克服了这个问题。我们通过从生物系统中获得线索来实现这一点，即某些生物体通过在磷脂的烷基链中包括不饱和度来调节膜流动性的方式。与这些离子液体一样，磷脂是具有长烷基链的带电物质。在这项工作中，我们建议研究这些离子液体作为纯组分和非极性溶质的二元混合物中的热物理行为，以研究它们如何用于化学和制药行业的分离过程。在最近的出版物中证明了这种现象，我们现在建议研究一组扩展的非极性室温离子液体的热物理性质，并研究整个种类的溶剂和溶液的热力学性质。我们假设，掺入这些长的非极性烷基链，同时保持低熔点，将导致IL可以表现出非极性样溶剂性质，并可能具有基于液体中存在的非极性结构域的大小和形状分离非极性溶质的能力。这样的离子液体将为新的研究领域打开大门，包括涉及非极性分子的更环保和经济的方法，这些方法目前由于溶解度限制而不可能实现。此外，我们预计，这些离子液体将为研究人员提供一个平台，研究更广泛的一类酶催化反应的离子液体，他们可能会作为一个很好的模型系统的细胞膜的热力学和运输过程。在南亚拉巴马大学，我们率先开发了几种新型离子液体，包括化学捕获CO2的Brønsted酸性离子液体和刘易斯碱性离子液体，这些离子液体已被许可用于商业生产和销售。随着化学生物分子工程和化学部门之间最近发起的合作，我们有能力将我们的研究推进到一个新的水平。更广泛的影响：由于与挥发性分子溶剂相比，离子液体基本上是非挥发性的，因此通过开发这些新物质而实现的技术将导致更环境友好的过程。此外，这项工作构成了南亚拉巴马大学的一条新的研究路线，该路线源于化学生物分子工程和化学之间的合作，并将加强这一方向的跨学科努力。将工程部分与合成方面的专业知识相结合，将使我们更具国际竞争力。此外，随着这些分子的充分表征，世界各地的研究人员将有机会获得一种新的和科学丰富的资源，目前缺乏的可能性，由离子液体提供。本科生和研究生研究生将直接参与进行这项研究，并将受益于跨学科的培训，因为他们作为一个统一的团队工作。随着研究活动纳入本科生和研究生课程，该项目将纳入教学法。由于美国是一个EPSCoR国家机构，为墨西哥湾沿岸地区的许多学生提供服务，这些学生来自历史上代表性不足的群体，因此该项目将允许那些传统上无法获得这种技术复杂程度的学生积极参与研究。此外，这项工作产生的推广工作（YouTube视频与可下载的课堂内容）将有助于向K-12学生展示科学和工程的社会价值，并激励他们从事STEM相关领域的职业。

1133101WestIntroduction: This new class of Ionic Liquids (ILs) can potentially create a new, rapid means of separating biomolecules such as proteins that is faster than chromatography and other well established methods. This is also a major advance in that the new ILs should provide a platform to investigate enzyme catalyzed reactions in ionic liquids and should serve as model systems for cell membranes for thermodynamic and transport processes. The development of these new ILs could result in more environmentally benign and economical processes. Intellectual Merit: Ionic liquids (ILs) are organic salts, which are liquids at temperatures below 100°C. They are a unique class of compounds that are essentially non-volatile and have highly tunable properties. As one might expect, ionic liquids typically exhibit the same solvent characteristics as polar molecular solvents, readily dissolving moderately-polar and polar solutes (like-dissolves-like) but often being poor solvents for non-polar compounds. This limits the applicability of ILs for chemical reactions and separations processes that involve non-polar compounds, including those of biological origin such as fatty acids and cholesterol. We have developed a new class of ILs that contains long alkyl chains, incorporated to impart non-polar-like solvent properties, which remain room temperature liquids. Typically, ILs with long alkyl chains remain solids at room temperature due to the enhanced interactions created by the long chains; however, our recent work has overcome this problem. We accomplished this by taking cues from biological systems, i.e. the manner in which certain organisms regulate membrane fluidity in colder temperatures by including unsaturation in the alkyl chains of phospholipids. Like these ionic liquids, phospholipids are charged species with long alkyl chains. In this work we propose to study the thermophysical behavior of these ILs as pure components and in binary mixtures with non-polar solutes to examine how they may be used in separations processes in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Having demonstrated this phenomenon in a recent publication, we now propose to study the thermophysical properties of an expanded set of non-polar-like room temperature ionic liquids and to study the solvent and solution thermodynamic properties of the entire class of species. We hypothesize that incorporating these long non-polar alkyl chains, while maintaining low melting points, will result in ILs that can exhibit non-polar-like solvent properties and potentially have the capability to separate non-polar solutes based on the sizes and shapes of the non-polar domains present in the liquid. Such ionic liquids would open the door to new areas of research including more environmentally benign and economical processes involving non-polar molecules that are currently not possible due to solubility limitations. Additionally, we anticipate that these ionic liquids will provide a platform for researchers to investigate a broader class of enzyme catalyzed reactions in ionic liquids, and they may serve as excellent model systems for cell membranes for thermodynamic and transport processes. At the University of South Alabama, we have pioneered the development of several novel classes of ionic liquids including Brønsted acidic ILs and Lewis basic ILs that chemically capture CO2, which have been licensed for commercial production and sale. With the recently initiated collaboration between the departments of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering and Chemistry, we are well equipped to advance our research to the next level. Broader Impacts: As ILs are essentially non-volatile, as compared to volatile molecular solvents, technologies enabled by the development of these new species will result in more environmentally benign processes. Also, this work constitutes a new line of research at the University of South Alabama that stems from the collaboration between Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering and Chemistry and will enhance interdisciplinary efforts in this direction. Coupling the engineering component to the in-place expertise in synthesis will enable us to be more internationally competitive. Also, with these molecules sufficiently characterized, researchers around the world will have access to a novel and scientifically rich resource currently absent from the possibilities offered by ILs. The undergraduate and graduate research students will be directly involved in conducting this research and will benefit from the cross-disciplinary training as they work as a unified team. The project will be incorporated into pedagogy as research activities are integrated into the undergraduate and graduate curricula. Because USA is an EPSCoR state institution serving many students in the greater Gulf Coast region from historically underrepresented groups, this project will allow those students who have not traditionally had access to this level of technological sophistication to actively participate in research. Additionally, the outreach effort (YouTube videos with downloadable classroom content) stemming from this work will help demonstrate the societal value of science and engineering to K-12 students, and motivate them to engage in careers in STEM related fields.