Specific and non-specific interactions of hydropseudohalic acids with water and organic solvents

Partition coefficients P of the HNCS, HNCO and HN₃ hydropseudohalic acids between a number of organic solvents and water were determined. It has been found that log P increases with pKa of the acid and with the basicity of the solvent, but the effect of pKa on P is the smaller the more basic is the solvent. The relationships have been explained in terms of hydrogen bond formation between undissociated acid and solvent molecules. H-bonding between the pseudohalic acids and organic solvents has been confirmed by IR spectra on the example of HN₃ in benzene. Association constants for H-bonding between the three acids and water, benzene, dibutyl ether and tri-n-butyl phosphate were determined from partition data. It has been found that H-bonding increases with the strength of the acid, whereas the contribution to partition from non-specific interactions with water and organic solvents depends on the molecular surface area of the acid molecule.