Low-Q peak in X-ray patterns of choline-phenylalanine and -homophenylalanine: a combined effect of chain and stacking

In this contribution we report for the first time the X-ray patterns of choline-phenylalanine and choline-homophenylalanine ionic liquids. The presence of a low Q peak in both systems is another evidence that a long alkyl chain is not always needed to establish a nanodomain segregation in the liquid sufficient to be revealed by the diffraction experiment. These new data are compared with the diffraction patterns and the theoretical calculations of other choline-aminoacid ionic liquids recently reported. A significant role might be played by the stacking interactions between aromatic rings. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.