Calorimetric study of phase transitions in the thiourea carbon tetrachloride inclusion compound

Heat capacities of the inclusion compound (thiourea)_3.00CCl₄ have been measured in the temperature range 15–300 K. A first-order phase transition was found at 41.3 K and a second-order transition at 67.17 K. The enthalpy and entropy of the transition are 149 J mol^–1 and 3.7 J K^–1 mol^–1 for the former, and 241 J mol^–1 and 3.9 J K^–1 mol^–1 for the latter. A divergent expression C =A{(T_c –T)/T_c}^– was fitted to the excess heat capacity of the upper phase transition. The best-fit parameters wereA = 7.4 J K^–1 mol^–1,T_c = 67.166 K and = 0.31. Possible types of molecular disorder in the high temperature phase are discussed in relation to the transition entropy and the molecular and site symmetries of the guest molecule. The heat capacity of the lowest temperature phase was unusually large and may indicate the existence of very low frequency vibrational modes or labile configurational excitation of the guest molecule. Standard thermodynamic functions were calculated from the heat capacity data and are tabulated in the appendix.Contribution No. 11 from the Microcalorimetry Research Center.