Acetic acid vapor: 2. A statistical mechanical critique of vapor density experiments

A statistical mechanical model is used to critique vapor density experiments on acetic acid. The model suggests that the differences in the standard enthalpy of dissociation of acetic acid dimer reported in the literature lie mainly in the interpretation of the data and not in the data itself. If a uniform and plausible interpretative framework is adopted, the discrepancies largely disappear.     

Proposed reaction mechanisms for selenium UV photolysis vapor generation by computational methods

The production of volatile analyte species by UV photolysis in the presence of low-molecular-weight organic acids as an alternative to chemical vapor generation has been of recent interest. The mechanism of this process is not well understood. Proposed mechanisms often involve photolytic cleavage of the organic acid as the initial step. Evidence suggests that this may not be the dominant route for UV photolysis vapor generation. In this work computational methods were applied to determine a possible alternative mechanism in the absence of free-radical production. The proposed mechanism specifically focused on selenium vapor generation. An energetically favored mechanism was found for UV photolysis of inorganic selenium in the presence of formic and acetic acids which is consistent with previously reported experimental results.     

A new method of thin-layer chromatography with controlled vapor phase

A new version of thin-layer chromatography with controlled vapor phase is described. It has no analogues in planar and liquid chromatography. The method is based on a dynamic change in the physicochemical properties of a chromatographic system as a result of the contact of the plate bearing analytes with a vapor phase of certain composition created in the chromatographic chamber. The active vapor phase is created either by pumping a gas through the chromatographic chamber or by introducing a solvent vapor from another part of the chamber. The composition and properties of the mobile phase are controlled immediately in the course of separation by means of absorption or adsorption of one or another gas with the mobile or stationary phase. By the examples of benzoic acids and nitroaniline isomers in the presence of carbon oxide and vapors of acetic acid, ammonia, and ethanol, it was shown that this procedure utilizes the difference in the protolytic and solvation properties of adsorbates for changing the adsorption equilibrium and the selectivity and efficiency of separation.     

Some consequences of high temperature water vapor spectroscopy: water dimer at equilibrium

It is shown that the evolution of water vapor spectra in the 2500-5000 cm(-1) range recorded at 650 K and pressures up to 130 atms after subtraction of monomer contribution may be interpreted qualitatively well on the basis of experimental data on water dimer and trimer obtained from cold molecular beams and in He droplets. The proposed spectroscopic model considers water vapor as a mixture of nonideal monomers, dimers, and trimers at chemical equilibrium. The effect of line mixing is taken into account in the monomer spectrum modeling. Decomposition of the high temperature spectra allowed determining a dimer equilibrium constant that was compared with the previously known values. The contribution of water trimer is assessed. The performed analysis indicates that the number of bound dimers in water vapor is quite large, even at such a high temperature.     

Studies of carbon incorporation on the diamond [100] surface during chemical vapor deposition using density functional theory

Accurate potential energy surface calculations are presented for many of the key steps involved in diamond chemical vapor deposition on the [100] surface (in its 2 x 1 reconstructed and hydrogenated form). The growing diamond surface was described by using a large (approximately 1500 atoms) cluster model, with the key atoms involved in chemical steps being described by using a quantum mechanical (QM, density functional theory, DFT) method and the bulk of the atoms being described by molecular mechanics (MM). The resulting hybrid QM/MM calculations are more systematic and/or at a higher level of theory than previous work on this growth process. The dominant process for carbon addition, in the form of methyl radicals, is predicted to be addition to a surface radical site, opening of the adjacent C-C dimer bond, insertion, and ultimate ring closure. Other steps such as insertion across the trough between rows of dimer bonds or addition to a neighboring dimer leading to formation of a reconstruction on the next layer may also contribute. Etching of carbon can also occur; the most likely mechanism involves loss of a two-carbon moiety in the form of ethene. The present higher-level calculations confirm that migration of inserted carbon along both dimer rows and chains should be relatively facile, with barriers of approximately 150 kJ mol (-1) when starting from suitable diradical species, and that this step should play an important role in establishing growth of smooth surfaces.     

Reaction and phase equilibria of esterification of isoamyl alcohol and acetic acid at 760 mm Hg

The thermodynamic behavior of esterification reaction equilibrium and vapor–liquid equilibrium (VLE) of acetic acid and isoamyl alcohol mixture and its products, isoamyl acetate and water were investigated in this study. The experiments of chemical and phase equilibria were conducted in an Othmer type equilibrium cell. Since this esterification reaction proceeds very slowly, thus, a commercial Y type zeolite, NaY catalyst, was added to accelerate reaction rate such that the reaction equilibrium will be reached sooner and before phase equilibrium is considered. Using experimental data and phase and reaction equilibrium equations, the reaction equilibrium constants were calculated at different temperatures. The experimental results showed that the reaction equilibrium constant was very slightly dependent on temperature. The experimental data were then correlated by the Wilson, NRTL, and UNIQUAC models with the consideration of association effect of acetic acid in vapor phase. The concept of transformation composition by Barbosa and Doherty [D. Barbosa, M.F. Doherty, 1987, Proc. R. Soc. London Ser. A 413, 443–459.] was applied to construct three-dimensional figures showing experimental data and the calculated composition surfaces. It is observed from figures that the reactive azeotropy described by Barbosa and Doherty does not exist for this quaternary mixture. This study provides the required thermodynamic information for the development and design of this esterification process.     

Molecular structure of magnesium dibromide: an electron diffraction and quantum chemical study

The molecular structure of magnesium dibromide was investigated by high-level computational techniques and gas-phase electron diffraction. The vapor consisted of about 88% monomeric and 12% dimeric species at the electron diffraction experimental conditions at 1065 K. The geometrical parameters and vibrational characteristics of monomeric, dimeric, and trimeric magnesium dibromide species were determined by computations. Very high level computations with extended basis sets and relativistic pseudopotentials on bromine were needed to reach an agreement between computed and estimated experimental equilibrium geometries for the monomer. For both the dimer and the trimer, different geometrical arrangements were tested. Their ground-state structures have halogen bridges with four-membered ring geometries and D2h and D2d symmetry, respectively. Thermodynamic parameters have also been calculated.     

Investigation on isobaric vapor liquid equilibrium for acetic acid + water + (n-propyl acetate or iso-butyl acetate)

Isobaric vapor-liquid equilibrium (VLE) data for acetic acid + water, acetic acid + n-propyl acetate, acetic acid + iso-butyl acetate, acetic acid + water + n-propyl acetate, acetic acid + water + iso-butyl acetate are measured at 101.33 kPa with a modified Rose still. The nonideal behavior in vapor phase caused by the association of acetic acid are corrected by the chemical theory and Hayden-O’Connell method, and analyzed by calculating the second virial coefficients and apparent fugacity coefficients. The VLE data for acetic acid + water, acetic acid + n-propyl acetate, and acetic acid + iso-butyl acetate are correlated through the NRTL and UNIQUAC models using the nonlinear least square method. The obtained NRTL model parameters are used to predict the ternary VLE data. The ternary predicted values obtained in this way agree well with the experimental values.     

Vapor–liquid equilibria for water + acetic acid + (N,N-dimethylformamide or dimethyl sulfoxide) at 13.33 kPa

Isobaric vapor–liquid equilibrium (VLE) data of the systems acetic acid + N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), acetic acid + dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), DMSO + water, water + acetic acid + DMF, and water + acetic acid + DMSO have been measured at 13.33 kPa by using an improved Rose equilibrium still. The association of acetic acid in vapor phase has been considered, and the nonideality of vapor phase was accounted for using the Hayden–O’Connell (HOC) method. The experimental binary data have been correlated by the NRTL, Wilson and van Laar models. The NRTL model parameters obtained from the binary data have been used to predict the ternary VLE data. The ternary predicted values obtained in this way agree well with the experimental values.     

Investigation on isobaric vapor–liquid equilibrium for acetic acid + water + methyl ethyl ketone + isopropyl acetate

Isobaric vapor–liquid equilibrium (VLE) data for acetic acid + water, acetic acid + methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), MEK + isopropyl acetate, acetic acid + MEK + water and acetic acid + MEK + isopropyl acetate + water are measured at 101.33 kPa using a modified Rose cell. The nonideal behavior in vapor phase of binary systems measured in this work is analyzed through calculating fugacity coefficients since mixture containing acetic acid deviates from ideal behavior seriously in vapor phase due to the associating effect of acetic acid. Combined with Hayden–O’Connell (HOC) equation, the VLE data of the measured binary systems for acetic acid + water, acetic acid + MEK and MEK + isopropyl acetate are correlated by the NRTL and UNIQUAC models. The NRTL model parameters obtained from correlating data of binary system are used to predict the VLE data of the ternary and quaternary systems, and the predicted values obtained in this way agree well with the experimental values.     

The stability of the acetic acid dimer in microhydrated environments and in aqueous solution

The thermodynamic stability of the acetic acid dimer conformers in microhydrated environments and in aqueous solution was studied by means of molecular dynamics simulations using the density functional based tight binding (DFTB) method. To confirm the reliability of this method for the system studied, density functional theory (DFT) and second order M?ller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2) calculations were performed for comparison. Classical optimized potentials for liquid simulations (OPLS) force field dynamics was used as well. One focus of this work was laid on the study of the capabilities of water molecules to break the hydrogen bonds of the acetic acid dimer. The barrier for insertion of one water molecule into the most stable cyclic dimer is found to lie between 3.25 and 4.8 kcal mol(-1) for the quantum mechanical methods, but only at 1.2 kcal mol(-1) for OPLS. Starting from different acetic acid dimer structures optimized in gas phase, DFTB dynamics simulations give a different picture of the stability in the microhydrated environment (4 to 12 water molecules) as compared to aqueous solution. In the former case all conformers are converted to the hydrated cyclic dimer, which remains stable over the entire simulation time of 1 ns. These results demonstrate that the considered microhydrated environment is not sufficient to dissociate the acetic acid dimer. In aqueous solution, however, the DFTB dynamics shows dissociation of all dimer structures (or processes leading thereto) starting after about 50 ps, demonstrating the capability of the water environment to break up the relatively strong hydrogen bridges. The OPLS dynamics in the aqueous environment shows--in contrast to the DFTB results--immediate dissociation, but a similar long-term behavior.     

NMR Studies of Host–guest Complexes Between Monocarboxylic Acids and Amide-based Cyclophanes in Chloroform

Formation of host–guest complexes with acetic acid and benzoic acid was studied by NMR for amide-based octaazacyclophanes having pendant methyl ester arms; the cyclophanes were tetramethyl 2,9,18,25-tetraoxo-1,4,7,10,17,20,23,26-octaaza[10.10]paracyclophane-4,7,20,23-tetraacetate, its meta-isomer and analogues. Amide NH proton and CH₂ proton adjacent to amide C = O in every cyclophane host showed down-field NMR shifts in the presence of the guest acids in CHCl₃-d, suggesting the formation of 1:1 complexes in which the carboxyl group of an acid molecule formed two hydrogen bonds with the amide NH and C = O moieties of a host molecule. Since the complex formation competed with the dimerization of the guest acids, the monomer–dimer equilibrium was restudied by NMR and the equilibrium constant was determined to be 330 M^? 1 for acetic acid and 518 M^? 1 for benzoic acid. By using these values, the formation constants of the host–guest complexes were determined to be 8–51 M^? 1. The close contact between the host and guest molecules via hydrogen bonding was consistently confirmed by NMR shifts due to the ring current of aromatic group.     

Adsorption studies of acetic acid dimers on activated charcoal from organic solvents

Acetic acid exists as dimers in organic solvents like benzene, toluene and xylene. Adsorption of dimeric acetic acid on activated charcoal (AC) at various temperatures from benzene, toluene and xylene solutions have been studied. The system obeys Langmuir isotherm, thus signifying a monolayer adsorption of dimers. Corrections on AC-solvent pore volume fillings, molecular cross sectional surface area of acetic acid dimers, the adsorption equilibrium constants, the free energy change and the enthalpy change values are computed at different temperatures for the three solvents. The adsorption process has been found to be physisorption type. The FTIR measurements show that the adsorbed acetic acid dimer seems to retain the cyclic structure against the open chain non-cyclic structure.     

Ultrasound-assisted vapor generation of mercury

Cold vapor generation arising from reduction of both Hg²⁺ and CH₃Hg⁺ occurs using ultrasonic (US) fields of sufficient density to achieve both localized heating as well as radical-based attack in solutions of formic and acetic acids and tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH). A batch sonoreactor utilizing an ultrasonic probe as an energy source and a flow through system based on a US bath were optimized for this purpose. Reduction of CH₃Hg⁺ to Hg⁰ occurs only at relatively high US field density (>10 W cm⁻³ of sample solution) and is thus not observed when a conventional US bath is used for cold vapor generation. Speciation of mercury is thus possible by altering the power density during the measurement process. Thermal reduction of Hg²⁺ is efficient in formic acid and TMAH at 70 °C and occurs in the absence of the US field. Room temperature studies with the batch sonoreactor reveal a slow reduction process, producing temporally broad signals having an efficiency of approximately 68% of that arising from use of a conventional SnCl₂ reduction system. Molecular species of mercury are generated at high concentrations of formic and acetic acid. Factors affecting the generation of Hg⁰ were optimized and the batch sonoreactor used for the determination of total mercury in SLRS-4 river water reference material.     

Hydrogen bond mediated rotor-ring coupling in acetic acid-benzoic acid mixed dimer

In this work we demonstrate that a doubly hydrogen-bonded interface of two carboxylic acid groups behaves as efficient conduit to transmit the rotor effects for IVR acceleration in a phenyl ring. The phenomenon has been demonstrated by measuring the resolved emission spectra following SVL excitations in S(1) of a 1:1 mixed dimer between acetic acid and benzoic acid. The role of the methyl rotor has been ascertained by comparing the results with those obtained for an analogous dimeric system between formic acid and benzoic acid.     

A theoretical investigation of the enol content of acetic acid and the acetate ion in aqueous solution

Ab initio molecular orbital calculations and statistical Monte Carlo simulations employing a combined quantum and molecular mechanical potential were used to determine the enol contents of acetic acid and the acetate ion in aqueous solution. A pK_E of 19.3 ± 0.3 was predicted for the keto-enol equilibrium of acetic acid, and 21.8 ± 0.8 for the acetate ion in water. The results are found to be in good accord with Guthrie's calculations based on disproportionation reactions and kinetic data. Combining with the experimental pK_a value of acetic acid, we obtained pK_a^k = 26.6 for ionization of acetic acid as a carbon acid in water, and pK_a^E = 7.3 for ionization of the enol of acetic acid.     

Sticking coefficient and processing of water vapor on organic-coated nanoaerosols

Organic-based aerosols may play an unexpectedly important role in the atmospheric processing of water vapor. In this paper, we report results of a molecular dynamics (MD) study on the sticking coefficient of water vapor on a coated particle (water droplet coated with fatty acid of radius approximately 4 nm). The sticking coefficient was found to be almost a constant (11-16%) for incident speeds around the most probable speed as opposed to 100% for water vapor incident on a pure water droplet. The sticking coefficient was found to increase with the size of the water cluster (water-Nmer) impinging the surface of the particle and was seen to approach 1 for impinging water clusters consisting of 10 molecules or more. We also computed the average energy transferred per collision for monomers impinging the surface of the coated particle and found the value to be 4.4581 kJ/mol. Most important perhaps was the fact that despite the lower sticking coefficient, the equilibrium vapor pressure of water over these inverted micelles was considerably lower due to the surface tension effects of the fatty acid layer. As such, these coated particles act as effective substrates for water vapor condensation and may play a role as cloud condensation nuclei.