The relation between the nonlinear dielectric effect and solvent polarity

The relation between solvent polarity expressed through the Dimroth-Reichardt spectroscopic parameter E _T (30) and the nonlinear dielectric effect (NDE) expressed through the parameter /E² is demonstrated where is a change in the electric permittivity of a solvent in an external strong electric field E. Both E _T (20) and /E², determined in quite different ways, are extremely sensitive to the dielectric properties of a solvent which depend on molecular interactions. Linear correlations between /E² and E _T (30) have been found for n-alkanols representing hydrogenbond donor solvents, and for halogenobenzenes which are dipolar, aprotic, weakly-associated solvents.Part of this work was presented at The 22^nd International Conference on Solution Chemistry in Linz, Austria, July 1991.