Marion Maclean Davis
Published: 1968
Total Pages: 170
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A unified picture of acid-base behavior in aprotic organic solvents is presented, based on an extensive survey of the literature and experimental results of the author and associates. Evidence given to support this picture includes data pertaining to colligative properties of acids, bases, and salts and also conductance, dielectric constants, distribution between immiscible solvents, and spectral absorption in the infrared, visible, and ultraviolet. The acids upon which attention is centered are proton-donor compounds that are measurably ionized in water, such as aliphatic and aromatic carboxylic acids, substituted phenols and mineral acids. The bases of principal interest are likewise compounds capable of forming ions in water, for example, aliphatic and aromatic amines and derivatives of guanidine or pyridine. The solvents emphasized are hydrocarbons and halohydrocarbons, but data for dipolar aprotic solvents (for example, acetone, acetonitrile, and nitrobenzene) are included. Contrasts in acid-base behavior and in acidity and basicity scales in aprotic and water-like solvents are discussed. The role of hydrogen bonding in aprotic solvents is discussed at length. Important types of hydrogen-bonded structures include chelate rings; self-associated acids, bases, and salts; hydrogen-bonded ion pairs; and homo- and heteroconjugate cations and anions. Examples are given in which hydrogen bonding of these types affects such properties as the absorption spectrum of a salt, the catalytic effect of an acid, and the accurate location of a titration endpoint. (Author).