A comparison of acetone and poly(propylene glycol) as solvents for lithium triflate and lithium perchlorate

Solutions of LiCF3SO3 and LiClO4 in acetone and in poly(propylene glycol) (PPG 400 and PPG 4000) have been compared by studying the nondegenerate, symmetric stretch (A1,SO3) and (A1,ClO4) Raman modes. The Raman spectra contain bands due to the symmetric stretching motion of the "free" anion and due to the symmetric stretching motion of anions in ion aggregates. It is concluded that "free" ions, ion pairs, triplets, and aggregates are present. Although PPG has a much lower dielectric constant, it is a better solvent for these salts than the dipolar aprotic acetone. These findings have ramifications on the current controversy of whether "free" ions are present at all in polyether–salt complexes such as PPG 4000/LiCF3SO3. Key words: acetone, poly(propylene glycol), lithium triflate, lithium perchlorate, Raman.