Quantifying the Influence of C-H···pi Interactions on Non-Aqueous Electrolyte Solubility

For redox active organic molecules (ROMs) used in grid-scale energy storage applications, such as redox flow batteries, solubility is an essential physicochemical property. Specifically, solubility is directly proportional to the volumetric energy density of an energy storage device and thus affects its corresponding spatial footprint. Recently pyridiniums have been introduced as a class of ROMs with high persistence in multiple redox states at low potentials. Unfortunately, solubility of pyridinium salts in non-aqueous media remains low (generally less than 1 M), and relatively few practical molecular design strategies exist for generalized improvement of ROM solubility. Herein, we convey the extent to which discrete, attractive interactions between C-H groups and the p-electrons of an aromatic ring (C-H···pi interactions) can describe the solubility of N-substituted pyridinium salts in a non-aqueous solvent (acetonitrile). We find a direct correlation between the extent of crystalline C-H···pi interactions for each pyridinium salt and its solubility in acetonitrile (R2 = 0.93, solubility range = 0.3 – 2.1 M). The presence of C-H···pi interactions reveals how large disparities in solubility between (e.g.) N-(p-tolyl)-4-phenyl-2,6-dimethylpyridinium (0.32 ± 0.03 M) and N-(p-tolyl)-4-(p-tolyl)-2,6-dimethylpyridinium (1.06 ± 0.03 M) tetrafluoroborate may arise despite differing in structure by only three atoms. The correlation presented in this work highlights a surprising consequence of disrupting strong electrostatic interactions with weak dispersion interactions, showing how minimal structural change can have dramatic effects on ROM solubility.