The Local Microenvironment Surrounding Dansyl Molecules Attached to Controlled Pore Glass in Pure and Alcohol-Modified Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

We report on the local microenvironment surrounding a free dansyl probe, dansyl attached to controlled pore glass (D-CPG), and dansyl molecules attached to trimethylsilyl-capped CPG (capped D-CPG) in pure and alcohol-modified supercritical CO2. These systems were selected to provide insights into the local microenvironment surrounding a reactive agent immobilized at a silica surface in contact with pure and cosolvent-modified supercritical CO2. Local surface-bound dansyl molecule solvation on the CPG surface depends on the dansyl molecule surface loading, the surface chemistry (uncapped versus capped), the bulk fluid density, and the alcohol gas phase absolute acidity. At high dansyl loadings, the surface-bound dansyl molecules are largely “solvated” by other dansyl molecules and these molecules are not affected significantly by the fluid phase. When the dansyl surface loading decreases, dansyl molecules can be accessed/solvated/wetted by the fluid phase. However, at the lowest dansyl loadings studied, the dansyl molecules are in a fluid inaccessible/restrictive environment and do not sense the fluid phase to any significant degree. In uncapped D-CPG, one can poise the system such that the local concentration of an environmentally less responsible cosolvent (alcohol) in the immediate vicinity of surface-immobilized dansyl molecules can approach 100% even though the bulk solution contains orders of magnitude less of this less environmentally responsible cosolvent. In capped C-CPG, the surface excess is attenuated in comparison to that of uncapped D-CPG. The extent of this cosolvent surface excess is discussed in terms of the dansyl surface loading, the local density fluctuations, the cosolvent and surface silanol gas phase acidities, and the silica surface chemistry. These results also have implications for cleanings, extractions, heterogeneous reactions, separations, and nanomaterial fabrication using supercritical fluids.