Structural evolution of the butylated hydroxytoluene/menthol hydrophobic eutectic solvent upon methanol and ethanol cosolvent addition

The changes upon methanol (MeOH) and ethanol (EtOH) addition in the structural arrangement of the hydrophobic eutectic solvent formed by butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and L-menthol (MEN) in 1:3 M ratio have been studied using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations integrated by small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SWAXS) measurements. Different mixtures containing the eutectic solvent and a variable amount of MeOH and EtOH have been investigated and the cosolvent introduction at any concentration has been found to break the hydrogen-bonds (H-bonds) among the MEN molecules, that are the most relevant interactions in the pristine eutectic, while the BHT component remains substantially non-interacting through all the explored composition range. This H-bond network is replaced by interactions between the MEN component and the cosolvent molecules, where the MEN species acts preferentially as H-bond donor towards the MeOH and EtOH molecules that behave mostly as H-bond acceptors. An increasing interplay between the excess cosolvent molecules is also observed upon increasing their concentration. SWAXS data show a contraction of the electron-dense regions corresponding to the hydroxyl groups upon cosolvent addition. This evidence is compatible with the intercalation of the MeOH and EtOH molecules in the MEN-MEN H-bond network to promote MEN-cosolvent and cosolvent cosolvent interactions, in agreement with the MD results.