Ion transfer at nanointerfaces between water and neat organic solvents

Nanopipet voltammetry was used for the first study of ion transfer (IT) reactions between aqueous solutions and neat organic solvents. An extremely wide (10 V) polarization window obtained with no electrolyte added to the organic phase allows one to probe charge transfer reactions, which are not normally accessible by electrochemical techniques, for example, the transfer of l-alaninamide cation from water to 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE). While anions (e.g., chloride) and relatively hydrophobic cations (e.g., tetraalkylammonium ions) can be transferred from water to less polar neat solvents such as DCE, the transfers of strongly hydrated metal cations occur only in the presence of organic supporting electrolyte. Copyright © 2005 American Chemical Society.